What Happens Next
by MiraculousPhantom639
Summary: Set a month after Cars 2. Continues the lives of Lightning McQueen and Sally Carrera in Radiator Springs, what obstacles will come in their relationship? Will they have time to be together and start a family? Non-Humanized. Sort of what I want Cars 3 to be about but I don't think it'll happen... Updated Weekly! :)
1. A Drive

**Whoa…me making a CarsFanFic? Well, if some of you have been reading my other DP story, you wouldn't be surprised to see this. ^^ I was just in such a Cars mood that I had to write a Fanfiction about my favourite animated couple of all time! :D**

 **FYI this is not humanized, for some reason I prefer non-humanized Cars stories over humanized ones. I think because it's easier to imagine the characters as what kind they are. With humans they appear like everyone else and a lot of their car world is gone. I'm not saying that humanized Cars stories are bad; I'm just saying that I prefer original non-humanized Cars stories over the humanized ones.**

 **Oh, and also I may use terms that would likely describe humans such as heart or face or whatever. Sorry if that confuses you, I just can't find a correct term for it, that and I prefer to use those terms to describe them.**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 1 – A Drive**

At a glance all that could be seen were trees with leaves blowing in the summer wind, with hills and mountains surrounding the landscape, and then a magnificent waterfall surrounded by nature.

And two cars racing each other.

One was a light blue, the other a strong red. One was a famous race car, while the other was an attorney. Quite an unusual combination, but it worked out for these two. For these two cars loved each other dearly, and had been together for more than 4 years.

Their first encounter may have not been the best, but surely they would not spend another moment like that together, for they had understood each other's past and had connected strongly. Their personalities unmatched but both challenged each other without the struggle for success.

Nothing had ever come between them, even if one had a fan girl crush on another race car because of his open wheels, she still loved her red car more than anything else in the world. The red car too, had countless fan girls but he knew that none of them could match up to the one he cared about the most.

Lightning McQueen and Sally Carrera. The most popular couple known in Radiator Springs, a small and old but newly populated town that Lightning had ran into more than 4 years ago. It was that one wrong turn that turned out to be the best mistake he had ever made. The ride may have been a little bumpy, but he was glad that he could find someone to care for other than himself, and not just Sally, but everyone else in town; his best friend Mater too, and many other residents of the town.

As Sally passed the waterfall, she gave a flirtatious glance at Lightning, who gasped the same way he did when he first saw her driving past the waterfall. It was a breathtaking moment that made Lightning's heart skip a beat. When Lightning first saw her in the courtroom, he found her to be the most beautiful car he had ever seen. Groupies were nothing compared to the beauty he saw once she drove into the room.

He wasn't looking for love, but he found it in a light blue Porsche who lived in a small deserted town which now Lightning called home. The two of them lived together, aside from them not being married they felt comfortable living together, and ever since Radiator Springs became more populated, the Cozy Cone Motel and Wheel Well Motel were overbooked.

Sally had Lightning to thank for that, the night in which he had to leave for his race she would never forget. She had never been so happy and sad in all her life. It was that night that she realized Lightning had meant something to her. It was the night that made Lightning realized how much he cared for everyone who lived in Radiator Springs, especially Sally who with one touch made his heart race and want more from her.

As the couple arrived at Wheel Well Motel, they saw that it was deserted. The motel had been closed for the day since it was a public holiday. And today was a day that Sally and Lightning wanted to share together, just the two of them and no one else.

The next day would be a reckless amount of work for the two of them. Lightning would have to go out and practice while Sally would be busy managing both Cozy Cone Motel and Wheel Well, with the assistance of her friends.

Lightning had been feeling that their relationship was being neglected, not by everyone else but because of the amount of time they spent apart. On the outside, they both didn't seem to care that one or the other was busy or out of town for a while, but on the inside they deeply missed each other. During races or even practice, Lightning would be busy thinking about her before he would be knocked by one of his competitors, most likely the green car with a moustache that would do anything to win the trophy for the season.

Sally on the other hand, would get carried away with just daydreaming at her desk at the Cozy Cone about Lightning and their moments shared together. She was lucky that it was easier for her to snap out of it.

But for Lightning it was much harder, because he was still new to respecting and loving others more than he cared for himself. So the more he took in, the more he couldn't stop.

Lightning looked at Sally, her paint shining against the summer sun gave him a slight chill, she always looked beautiful in the sunlight, and when she would turn to face him, her eyes would tell it all. Sally smiled at Lightning in return then drove inside the Motel. He followed her in, and found her next to the bar with two drinks there. He smirked at her; he loved it when she thought ahead.

They both sat together at the bar with freshly made drinks and nothing else but the two of them in complete silence. Lightning was thinking, so was Sally about what they should talk about. The only thing that was coming to their minds was the past; how they met and that night where it all came down on them at once.

It was truly a night that neither of them would never forget, it meant all too much to the both of them. The moment when their fenders touched instantly produced a long connecting spark that could almost never be broken. Sally knew that this was the kind she was looking for in him; she didn't expect to see it when she saw him for the first time, but later on she could tell that he was changing.

Then, Sally ended the silence with a heavy sigh with a dreamy look on her face as she began to reminisce about the moments they had shared together.

"Remember when we first came up here?" She asked, knowing that he would most definitely remember that particular event.

"Yeah, the time when you tricked me into a race." He added, jokingly.

Sally chuckled as she remembered that moment. "Yeah, I wanted to see how fast you can really go. That and it was just for fun." She ended with a smile slightly turning to him after taking another sip of her drink.

Lightning laughed in doubt of his speed, he was a race car, and of course he could easily beat her. "You know, I only take it easy on you because I can actually go miles ahead of you."

"Is it also because I'm a girl?" She asked with a smirk and a raised eyelid of suspicion.

"No," He replied in a different and more caring tone. "It's because I don't get to see you if I'm miles ahead." He answered as he nuzzled her fender which made her do the same.

The two embraced in a gentle nuzzle of each other's fenders, at that moment they both remembered that moment that they shared intimately together; it was a moment that would always make their hearts race.

But when Sally remembered the moment after, she backed away with a saddened expression. Lightning opened his eyes and looked at her with deep concern. He worried that he had done something wrong.

"Are you alright?" He asked, knowing very well from her expression that she wasn't.

"Oh…" Sally began, slightly stuttering as she sniffled a little before turning to her drink again. "Nothing it's just…I missed you when you had to leave."

"But I came back." Lightning added with a smile, giving her a sign of hope. "And you know that I'll have to leave for my races. But in the end I will always come back." He added, moving a little closer to her.

Sally turned slightly and gave a half smile, letting him know that she understood, but still saddened by how the rest of that day turned out. She was glad that she came back a couple of days later, and she was glad that he knew exactly where to find her. It made her think that he understood her more than anyone else.

Of all the time they spent together, they cherished their first moments together the most. Their first encounter may have not been the best, but it was something that would make the couple laugh at how playful they used to be before they became anything.

"After four years I still can't believe you're that same car that tried to ask me out at first glance." Sally stated jokingly, finding doubt and disbelief that this was the same car that used to be very stubborn and full of himself.

Lightning chuckled as he remembered how he used to act; he shook his hood in disbelief of ever being that kind of car again. "You won't see that car again. He's changed." He said with a flirtatious expression and gazing into Sally's blue eyes.

Sally smiled in return, with her eyes half closed. She couldn't help but love that look he would give her, even if it did hint towards how he used to act, she didn't mind a little of how he used to be. It made her feel more like this was indeed that car that used to be arrogant and stubborn, she was glad that he didn't completely change, but it did bug her from time to time when he would show off his lucky sticker to the crowds.

"Oh I'm sure I'll see some of that car very soon." She teased with a wink, reminding him that he acted more like he used to be during his races.

"Hey…" He said in a quiet and mildly annoyed tone. "I can't help that, you know that. I try my best to be a different car as I was before I met you guys."

She knew that, they had been together for 4 years, how could she not know this much about him already? The same could be said with Lightning, even though he did not know much about her past, he was happy with the knowledge he had about her. Although she knew a lot more about him because of how famous he was.

Sally sighed as she turned back to her drink and took another mouthful, Lightning did the same. The silence had returned, it was beginning to feel that the moment they were sharing together was rather quiet and slightly awkward.

The only thing they could do was think about the past events; they both wondered why they didn't think about anything else that whole silent moment. It was because of the past events that they had shared together, they were so memorable that they couldn't be forgotten.

When their drinks were finished, they both drove outside and parked next to a table closest to the magnificent view of Radiator Springs, Ornament Valley and many other amazing places. The couple couldn't help but reminisce about how it used to look before Lightning made the town populated again.

Past events were all that Sally and Lightning could think about, it annoyed them a little that they couldn't think about anything else but the past. Lightning then thought about the memories had shared without her when he was out of town racing.

It made Lightning feel disappointed and drawn back to reality, but when he looked at Sally once more he smiled with content and moved closer so that their fenders were barely touching. He began to think about the distant future, the parts that included Sally and him in particular. That was the only part of his future that he was smiling dreamily about, when he thought about his races he felt drawn back to reality. He knew that he couldn't just be around her all the time, even if it was the only thing he truly wanted to do all the time.

Sally felt the same; it was the main thing they both had in common that they both felt the same way about certain things.

She looked over at Lightning to see him staring off into space; she wondered what he was thinking about. She raised an eyebrow and nudged his side to get his attention. Lightning's eyes fluttered in the sudden touch and the feeling of being drawn back to reality. When he turned he gazed at Sally with a dreamy smile.

Sally looked down, feeling modest that he almost always looked at her in that way, but then she looked back up with a devilish smile.

"So, what were you thinking about?" She asked.

"Oh nothing really..." He answered with a sigh as he looked over the countryside. "Just what the future might hold for us."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Sally asked, sounding worried.

It could've meant a thousand things to Sally, she couldn't figure out what part of the future he was thinking about for them. Was it his racing career affecting their relationship or taking their relationship to the next level or if they would break up and meet new people. Some thoughts Sally did not dare to think about.

"Whether we're still together ten years from now, or if we've started a family by then while I'm still out there racing." He replied, still looking out towards the countryside view as he gave a worried look then a sigh of hope.

A family? Sally thought. She wondered if Lightning wanted to go that far, but in time it would be nice to start a family with him, but when it came to their careers she had doubt that it would ever work out. They would be far too busy all the time, with Sally managing two hotels, not to mention the fact if any cases had to be held in court and she was needed, but also the fact that Lightning wasn't retiring from racing any time soon.

"I see..." Sally replied, with a sign of doubt in her tone, and this caught Lightning's eye.

He reversed to face her; he could see that she had doubt in her eyes. This worried him, what did she doubt about their future? He thought, showing an expression of concern through his medium blue eyes and bright red lips.

"What's wrong?" Lightning asked, with his worried expression becoming more defined.

"Stickers," She began to say, also saying the nickname she gave him the first day she saw him. "We have careers; they could get in the way of things. And not that I hate you for making this town so busy since it's early days, it's just that this town I think has become more busier than it used to be."

"So? Is that a bad thing?"

"What did I just say?" Sally replied in sarcasm, giving an annoyed expression.

"Oh..." Lightning said with a sigh, realizing that she did say it wasn't a bad thing. "So…?" He asked, wanting her to continue the point she was making.

Sally drove away from the spectacular view of the town and the rest of the country as she looked at Wheel Well and remembering how it looked before it was restored. She felt her eyelids close on her with a heavy sigh as Lightning parked right next to her.

"We don't have time for those things. I think we're best staying the way we are." She suggested, thinking about how much stress they would have to deal with if starting a family was going to happen.

Lightning felt almost heartbroken, but nodded in reply as he understood that their careers are what made them who they are and what kept everyone busy. They couldn't just lay back for the rest of their lives, with so many decades ahead of them; there was no time for laying back now.

But, did Sally really want her two careers over a commitment with him and possibly a family? He knew that he wouldn't rush things with her, that's why he hasn't proposed yet after 4 years of dating. No one said raising a family or even just tying the knot would be easy.

 **Well, there's the first Chapter for you! Now, I'll be updating this on a regular basis so expect this Chapter around the same time next week (Nov 6** **th** **). So hope you enjoyed my first Chapter of my first Cars Fanfic! I'll see you all soon! ^^**


	2. Past Times

**So here's Chapter 2 on time. I really love where this story is going so far! Not sure how I'll be pacing this though...but hopefully I don't rush things or slow things right down and write every detail...oh wait... -.-**

 **Anyways, enjoy Chapter 2 of What Happens Next! A reminder that this is not humanized. ;)**

 **Chapter 2 –Past Times**

"I'm not saying now, I'm saying in the future." Lightning assured her.

Sally looked down and steered closer to Lightning to show how serious she was about this situation. "We won't have time. Trust me I'd like to someday but I just can't see it happening without a whole lot of trouble getting in the way. I mean obviously there's going to be some turmoil down the road but with a combination like us? It just can't work that way without it resulting in bad news. I still love you Lightning, I just can't see us like that yet..." She explained, almost bringing tears to her eyes as she looked down nervously and backed away a couple of feet.

Lightning didn't know what to say, he could see in her delicate blue eyes that she was telling the truth. She worried him deeply; this made Sally's expression be passed onto his face within an instant. He wanted it all to happen more than anything, even more than trying to top Doc Hudson's record for 27 wins in a single racing season. So far he had only gotten 13 wins in a single season.

"Sally I...I understand." He finally said with a caring smile as he slowly approached her lips. "I love you and I know that one day we'll find the right time for all this. For us." He said with hesitance, wanting to propose to her sooner but worried how she would take it.

Lightning ended his statement with a passionate kiss, it always made Sally's engine purr, even when she felt deeply worried or saddened about something. Lightning's touch from his lips onto hers made her heart melt every single time.

It reminded them of the first kiss they shared together.

 _It was 2 days after Lightning had returned to what he had now called home. He was best friends with a very friendly over confident tow truck, had a mentor that looked out for him during his races, his other friends that lived there but most of all, someone he cared about more than anyone else._

 _He hadn't asked Sally on a date yet, but was really willing to. Unfortunately the past couple of days had been busy for him since he had permanently moved to Radiator Springs instead of constantly being on the road or living in a busy city._

 _But today was the day; he had to ask her out. He knew that with the recent events and that almost kiss they shared in front of Wheel Well right before Mater had shown up was definitely a sign that she liked him the same way too._

 _It was morning; everyone was camped out at Flo's V8 Cafe for breakfast. Everyone had a pleasant smile on their face as they watched several new cars venture into town; the only thing that had changed so far was that there were a lot of customers all the time. Lightning was glad that they left him alone; he was the reason why the town became so populated again so sometimes he wondered if he would run into fans at the next bend or possibly behind him at any moment, but was glad to see that it was just his newfound friends at Flo's and no one else._

" _Hey buddy! Slept well in that cozy cone of yours?" Mater asked, teasing as he raised an eyelid with a smirk._

" _Hey, I slept well thank you." Lightning teased back with a compliment and a smile._

 _Lightning took another sip of his drink before Sally showed up for breakfast. He looked at her intently and gazed at her for a while until Mater snapped him out of it with his ghost light story. Sheriff and Doc smirked at each other, as if they had something planned for Mater about the ghost light._

" _Hey, you know tonight we can go lookin' for the ghost light!" Mater exclaimed with excitement, almost bouncing his wheels in excitement._

 _Lightning chuckled before looking back at Sally who was talking to Flo. "Well that depends what other things I have planned."_

 _A few moments later, Sally parked next to Lightning and Flo gave her what she usually had for breakfast. Mater giggled when he saw the uncomfortable feeling on Lightning's face. Sally looked over at Mater who had the face of a young car up to mischief; she smirked before looking over to Lightning who had a nervous grin on his face. She knew that he was nervous about her; she found it rather cute that a hotshot rookie would act this way around girls he liked._

" _Morning, stickers." She greeted with a smile._

 _Lightning nodded with a smile, acknowledging her greeting and not having an idea on what to say next. He didn't want to sound so basic and ask the general questions, he wanted to get down to the one thing he wanted to ask her, but not here around everyone else. And although their friends didn't mind the two of them being together, it was Mater that would ruin the moment._

 _To make him seem like he wasn't shy, he decided to go with general questions that someone would usually ask in the morning._

" _So, how are you this morning?" He asked with a caring smile._

 _Sally turned a little and gave a dreamy daze before taking another sip of her drink then replying to his greeting question._

" _I'm good thank you, and you?"_

" _Good." Lightning said almost bluntly but with enough enthusiasm to not make the conversation seem boring and pointless._

" _That's good to hear." Sally replied with a smile._

 _While the others talked to each other about how the town was becoming busier by the day, Lightning eagerly waited for the right time to ask Sally. He watched Mater especially, knowing that he could ruin the moment._

 _With one last glance at Mater who was happily drinking his breakfast, he decided to ask her someplace else._

" _Hey, um are you busy later?"_

" _I've got a few bookings to cover but other than that I'm free. Why, did you want to take another drive?" She questioned with a smirk._

" _Well, sure." He replied, while moving his front tire back and forth in nervousness._

 _With a smile and a few more glances at each other, they parted ways. Lightning eagerly waited for their drive, he knew it was going to turn into a race, so he made sure that he had enough fuel in his tank before meeting up with Sally at the Cozy Cone. Unfortunately he ran into fans in the meantime._

" _It's Lightning McQueen! I can't believe it!"_

" _Oh my gosh, look at his new paint job!" A few other fans pointed out with their tires._

 _Lightning gave them an uncomfortable smile before steering right to the motel, the fans followed closely behind, constantly asking for his autograph. Lightning rolled his eyes before giving another friendly smile and giving them his autograph by placing his tire onto a piece of paper leaving the marks on them. The fans almost jumped in excitement as they drove off with their autographs from Lightning._

 _This was something he had to get used to, although he had done it many times before, those times he was a different car. Now that he was someone new and changed, it felt different somehow._

 _So he made his way over to the front desk where he saw a car in front of Sally's desk while Sally was booking the car into the motel, he was glad that when this car left they didn't squeal or jump in excitement from seeing him, all they did was greet him nicely before driving off._

" _You ready for that drive?" Lightning said, looking forward to this drive._

" _Where to, Stickers?" She asked, knowing that he was going to say Wheel Well because it was the only place that they could truly be alone._

" _Wheel Well. Now you're not going to trick me into another race are you?" He asked, teasing her with a smirk._

 _Sally shook her hood. "Oh, of course a nice leisurely drive."_

 _As they both drove out of town towards Tailfin Pass, Sally revved her engine. Lightning knew it, she was challenging him again. He revved his engine against hers before she sped off into the distance, Lightning would never get sick of her tricking him into a race. Lightning sped down the road, almost passing Sally but stayed at an equal speed to hers._

" _What's the matter? Is that how fast you can go?" Sally teased, challenging him again as she increased her speed some more._

 _Lightning smiled at her and had almost doubled his speed and sped right past Sally and into the tunnel before he emerged looking at the magnificent and brightly coloured waterfall. He slowed down because he wanted to see Sally glistening under the waterfall, it made his heart skip a beat when he saw the water trickling off her._

 _Sally could tell almost exactly what Lightning was doing, she sped right past him and took a glance at the waterfall before looking right over to him. Lightning quickly moved his tongue against his teeth to check for bugs then grinned shyly, because no matter how confident he could be, she would always be his downfall in emotion and show the side of him that no one really knows._

 _As they both arrived at the deserted Wheel Well, Lightning drove towards the edge and sighed at the amazing view of the town. Then he turned to Sally who looked just as amazing as the view. Now was the time to ask her, he had to before there were any more interruptions._

" _Sally I…need to ask you something." He started to say nervously, looking down and rubbing his front tire against the ground several times._

" _What is it?" She asked, turning her focus to him instead of the view._

" _Well…I…you know that I missed you when I was away from Radiator Springs. And when I came back you were glad to see me and then Mater interrupted us and…"_

 _Sally chuckled, knowing what Lightning was trying to say. She found it cute whenever he got all nervous and shy on her. It was something about him that only she could see._

" _Go on." She requested, wanting him to continue._

" _So, would you like to be my...girlfriend..?" Lightning asked, holding out a tire as a gesture._

 _Sally bit her lip and then smiled as she felt the tears of happiness coming. "Of course I will. You mean so much to me and the rest of the town."_

" _I know." He replied, in a quieter and romantic tone as he leaned in closer to her._

 _Sally looked up and saw that Lightning was approaching her for a kiss, she leaned forward and closed her eyes in sync with his as their lips pressed gently against each other. Their engines raced as a whole gush of feelings ran through their bodies. They both desperately hoped that Mater would not interrupt them again._

 _This was the kiss that they would both remember for a very long time._

Back to the present time, Sally and Lightning broke from their kiss and gave a short gaze at each other before looking back down at the view of the country.

"There will be a right time. I just don't find that right time to be now…" Sally stated, looking saddened.

Lightning nuzzled her fender. "I didn't say now, I said in the future. Don't worry; when the time comes we'll both be ready." He explained with a nod of assurance.

So they spent the remainder of the day at Wheel Well until they started to feel hungry so they raced down to Flo's, Sally challenged Lightning to beat her there otherwise he's buying. He revved his engine and sped past her, knowing how fast he could go, but he had to slow down around the corners so he wouldn't fly off the edge.

They were glad that no other cars were driving around because at their high speed there could've been a dangerous accident. Lightning and Sally managed to make it back to Flo's and unfortunately since Lightning was taking it easy on Sally he had to pay for their lunch.

"Seriously stickers, you don't have to go easy on me." She assured him, knowing that he could go way faster than her.

Loving how she bragged about his speed, he chuckled with delight and drove away from her to order lunch, but before he did he turned back to Sally and without even asking Sally nodded in agreement for him to order their lunches. Lightning replied with a caring smile then turned and asked Flo for their usual.

"Just what is your usual?" Mater asked, remembering their date from a few weeks ago where he pretended to be a waiter.

Lightning and Sally chuckled in laughter, they knew he was referencing when he kindly interrupted their date which lead to Lightning being dragged into the World Grand Prix by him.

"Now that usual is different from up there." Lightning replied driving next to Sally.

"So Mater," Sally began to say, changing the topic. "How are you and Holley? Have you seen her since the Radiator Springs Race?"

Mater looked down, saddened. It appeared that Holley had not been seen since she and Finn left a while ago.

"No...She's still on that mission. But she did promise me a date, so I can't wait for that!" He said with excitement, almost jumping in his tires.

Sally and Lightning almost doubted Holley and Mater's relationship, mostly because of how different the two of them were. Holley was sophisticated and Mater was childish and playful. But they both understood when they heard Holley admit to everyone that she was his girlfriend. It was a little hard to believe at first because of how unlikely this kind of couple can be, but they could see it in their eyes. They were just like Lightning and Sally; opposites that attracted each other.

As the public holiday was coming to a close, everyone parted ways to their homes to get ready for the next day which was sure to be busy for everyone. Unfortunately, the only thing Lightning could do was train for his races, but his stubborn attitude told him that he didn't need to train because he was already a great racer. He couldn't think of a way to make him be better than everyone else when he already was.

So, Flo and Ramone parted to their comfy little house next to Ramone's shop, Sarge and Fillmore argued on their way back to their homes, and Sheriff parted to the outskirts of the town where he would stand watch for the night. Mater on the other hand, grew slightly saddened when he thought of when Holley would be back from her mission.

But just after sunset while Mater was tidying up his workplace a little, he felt a buzz inside him. He knew that it was part of the new equipment he had installed in him from when Finn and Holley had installed all the technical equipment.

"Mater, hello?" A feminine but British voice called.

"Holley!" Mater shouted with excitement.

His shout in excitement from hearing from Holley was echoed all across the town and towards Lightning and Sally's house.

 **Aww that's cute how when they actually started talking about Holley and Mater misses her she's finally able to give him a call! ^^ So how'd you like my interpretation on how Lightning and Sally's first kiss went? To be honest I think it was too soon but if you saw the ending of the first movie then you'd get what I mean ;D**

 **So stay tuned for next week's chapter where we talk more about Holley and Mater! Don't worry; Lightning and Sally is still the main focus. ;)**


	3. Mater's Date

**Well, here's Chapter 3 as promised! Hopefully in this chapter I can get Holley and Mater's relationship accurate. To be honest I find it kind of creepy for them to be in a relationship because Mater's like...40 plus years..? I don't hate it, it's just...weird.**

 **So obviously Lightning and Sally are still my overall main focus of the story, but just for this Chapter (and maybe a few others in the future) it's mainly Mater and Holley. ^^ I'm not even sure how I'm going to play out Mater's date...**

 **Anyways, enjoy the 3** **rd** **Chapter of What Happens Next! I really like where this story is going so far! :D**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 3 –Mater's Date**

Their house was newly built; they had decided to live together just a few weeks after their first anniversary. At first Lightning was looking for an anniversary ring but decided that they could live together, and by this time Lightning felt weird still sleeping in a cone while Sally slept elsewhere, and while Sally had to sacrifice a cone for him every time someone asked for Cone No. 1.

They lived together in between the Cozy Cone Motel and Mater's Towing and Salvage. There had been a block of land there for a while, so knowing that there wouldn't be a better place to stay they moved in to their new house there.

But, there were a few things almost everyone would ask them from time to time that would stress the two of them.

" _Are you two getting married?"_

" _That shouting, was that an argument? Are you two breaking up?"_

" _Are you seeing as quitting racing to settle down and get married?"_

" _Why are you living together so soon? Are you two ready to be tied down?"_

" _Do you see racing affecting your relationship?"_

They were almost all about marriage, it bugged them but since they had discussed earlier about when they'd be ready, they didn't think about it as much when they drove up the ramp and into their house. They chuckled when they heard Mater shouting Holley's name, it meant that there may be a double date sometime soon, as well as a possible barging in from Mater about how excited he was about it.

They both really hoped that Mater could hold off the news until morning but knowing how Mater loved telling everyone as soon as something happened; they were expecting him to arrive at any moment.

Lightning drove to a switch which turned on the television and showed the still recent arguments about Allinoil and how Miles Axelrod was put behind bars as well as several other lemon cars a while ago. Lightning rolled his eyes before switching the channel and watching something more comedic.

Sally could hear him from the other room and laughed at the sound of his laugh because of the way it sounded. She was busy fixing up their beds before she would leave to ready the cones for the next morning.

It was after dark and Lightning was home by himself watching television, he started feeling tense after staying in one spot for so long. So after waiting a little longer for Mater to show up, he drove outside and went to Willy's Butte to do some laps. He was glad that he had headlights now so that he wouldn't have to avoid the dark or ask for everyone's assistance.

A few minutes later, Mater had come knocking on their door but found no one to be home, he quickly sped to the Cozy Cone Motel to find Sally in the office managing the papers and organizing the rooms for the next day.

"Hey miss Sally! Guess who's got a date tomorrow!" Mater called out excitedly as he entered the office.

"That great news Mater!" Sally responded, showing her enthusiasm so Mater's happiness. "Do I have to arrange a seating for you two at Wheel Well?" She asked, giving the assumption that they were having their date at Wheel Well.

"No thank you, we're going to go in Siddley and it's going to be a surprise. Well, at least that's what she said..." Mater explained.

Sally laughed with Mater for a moment before looking over her paperwork again and then thinking about the possibility of a double date in the future.

"So, any chance of all four of us getting together?" She asked, looking back up at the tow truck.

"Wait, you mean me, Siddley, Holley and you?" Mater asked, feeling a little confused as to why Sally would ask that.

"No." Sally corrected with a chuckle. "I mean a double date with me, stickers, you and Holley."

"Oh…" Mater said with a gasp of sudden realization of his assumption. "Well…I don't know, I'll have to ask Holley about whether she could be free or not." He added, sounding a little unsure of whether Holley would have time for a double date. "She's been awful busy with her spying and all..."

"It's alright Mater," Sally assured him. "No need to rush." She ended with a smile.

When she said 'rush' it reminded her of what she and Lightning had discussed several hours earlier. She was deeply worried about the future and how their relationship could be 10 years from now. Would they be married? Would Lightning still be racing? Will they have started a family by then? Would they break up?

A thousand questions ran through her head, it worried her so that it came through her expression and because Mater was still around he could see the worry and sadness in her expression.

"Are you okay?" Mater asked with a worried expression approaching Sally.

"Huh?" Sally asked, raising her hood a little to look at Mater's face. "Oh, nothing. No need to worry." She assured him, shrugging it off.

"Well, okay but if you need a friend to talk to I'm right next door." He suggested, in case she needed someone to talk to as he left the office.

Sally replied with a small smile before she took in a deep breath of air and exhaled closing her eyes feeling content but concerned of the things she and Lightning had discussed earlier.

She hadn't realised how late it had gotten by the time she was finished with preparing the cozy cone for the next day. She turned to turn off the fan with a switch and proceeded at cruising speed towards the front of the office to turn off the lights for the night before she drove next door to home.

Meanwhile, Lightning was thinking long and hard about his races and how long he could be racing like this in the future. He knew that it was his passion for a very long time, and he still felt like there were so many years ahead of him before he could even think of retiring. He couldn't remember how long The King, Strip Weathers was racing but it was certainly more than a decade.

As he done Doc's signature right turn left turn move, he finished his lap and decided to head home after a good half hour of practice. He decided to wash up first because he was covered in dirt from countless laps of Willy's Butte.

Lightning quickly managed to wash himself off before he headed home and drove past several fans who greeted him with a friendly 'hello' and nothing else. He was glad that there were some fans that he didn't have to tolerate.

He sighed as he drove towards his house and then thought about the next day. It seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the day that he would think about the past and future. He found it strange that time was the only thing on his mind for the whole day.

But luckily, his thoughts change when he saw Mater in his yard with his hazard lights on in excitement and spinning his tow cable around, he knew exactly why he was all excited. He dimmed down his lights as he entered his house and saw that Sally was preparing to leave, he wondered why again she must leave.

"Hey, I thought you went to the Cozy Cone already?" He asked, knowing that she would've been to the Cozy Cone by now to organise things for the next day.

"I did, now I have to go up to Wheel Well and prepare those bookings. So don't be surprised if I'm not back before 10." Sally explained, knowing how long it would take to get up there and then organise the next day's bookings.

"Oh," Lightning replied, sounding disappointed. "Well, okay then I'll see you later then."

Lightning had stayed up until around half past 10 waiting for Sally to return home, but he began to get tired himself from all the practice earlier. So he decided to go to bed hoping that she would return soon, he felt slightly worried before his tired eyes prevented him from seeing the waking world.

The next day arrived quickly; Lightning could hear the sound of Mater cheering in excitement and the faint music that Fillmore would play every morning against Sarge's salute to the country. He knew there was no falling back to sleep now. So he yawned as he stretched out his tires from a long night's rest and looked around for Sally. To his surprise she wasn't in the room.

"Sally?" Lightning called out, wondering where she could be.

He drove out of the room to see Sally parked just beside the front door fast asleep, he quietly chuckled to himself as he could see from how she was positioned that she didn't get home until very late. Lightning knew that he shouldn't disturb her, so he drove off to Flo's to go see Mater and his friends.

There were many cars situated at Flo's, most of them new customers while some were Lightning's good friends. In the centre was Mater making doughnuts because of how excited he was. Because Mater hadn't told Lightning about his date with Holley, he was slightly confused but had an idea that it had something to do with Holley. Sheriff was trying to calm Mater down as he was disturbing the local customers.

"Mater!" Sheriff exclaimed. "Settle down now!"

"Mornin' McQueen! Guess who's got a date today!" He shouted with excitement as Lightning parked next to a gas pump.

"Let me guess…is it you?" Lightning teased to Mater with a smile and pointing his tire to his tow truck buddy.

"You bet! I can't wait!" Mater shouted with joy as he jumped up and down.

"Careful there Mater, you almost scratched my paint." Ramone said backing away slightly.

Lightning found it almost hard to believe that Mater was this excited for a date, but he remembered when Holley arrived to Radiator Springs, Mater seemed to act more caring and serious. He wasn't expecting this mischievous tow truck to continue acting this way when Holley arrived.

Flo gave Lightning his usual breakfast before giving Mater another can of oil to drink. Mater slurped it down quickly due to his over excitement about seeing Holley, but then suddenly Mater had the hiccups.

"Dad Gum…" He said in between hiccups.

Everyone let out a small chuckle, but Sheriff and Lightning were laughing the most and looking at each other due to the recent events where Lightning and Sheriff had the hiccups.

"I guess you need that kiss from Holley to cure you." Lightning teased, bumping Mater with his tire.

"Oh I wish *hiccup* Holley was here now." He said before he hiccupped again. "So she could give *hiccup* me a kiss…" Mater added with a dreamy expression before another hiccup ruined it.

Even though they knew that it was Sally's kiss on his fender that cured Lightning's hiccups, everyone decided to give helpful tips into curing Mater's hiccups since Holley wasn't around. The same cars from last time all gave the same suggestions; it wasn't until Mater stopped on his own when he thought he saw a Frank off in the distance.

"What the? Frank? Everyone drive away!" He cried, before gasping in sudden realisation that his hiccups were gone. "My hiccups are gone!" He cheered.

But what Mater actually saw was Siddley landing off in the distance, about a mile away in the outskirts of the town. Mater gasped with excitement to realise that it was Siddley who had arrived to pick up Mater. He bounced up and down excitedly which made everyone at Flo's feel startled and almost choke on their own breakfast.

"They're early!" Mater announced before cheering and then driving backwards towards Siddley to show off his backwards driving skills. "See you later everybody!" He called out to everyone parked at Flo's.

Some of them shouted goodbye in reply, one of them being Lightning while most of the others were their good friends waving with their tires.

"Have fun buddy!" Lightning called out with a gleaming smile.

"I will!" Mater replied, having his voice sounded faint since he had driven off.

It was around 10 or so minutes later that many of them parted ways to their jobs and Lightning was left with Flo and a few fans that didn't bother him. He sighed as he finished his drink and headed off, but before he drove on the road Flo stopped him with a call.

"Hey Lightning, tell Sally that her breakfast is here waiting for her!" She called out while serving more customers.

Lightning chuckled in reply; he loved how Flo and Sally were the best of friends just like he and Mater were. "Alright, Flo. I'd be sure to let her know."

As Lightning drove off, he heard Flo call his name again. "Oh, and take care of her for me." She added with a wink and a smile.

"Will do." He replied before finally parting off, only to run into Mack on the way back to his house. "Oh, hey Mack. How have you been?"

Mack shrugged his tires as he looked down with a heavy sigh. "Oh, just feeling a little tired."

"From what?" Lightning joked. "You haven't been doing anything since I came back from my last win." He teased pointing a tire at him.

"Well, yeah. But during off season it gets pretty tiring." Mack replied with another sigh, seeming tired.

"I thought it would be relaxing for you to not be carrying me around for days." Lightning added, assuming that Mack would need his rest like he remembered the first time he had Mack push his limits. "Maybe it's because I don't push you as hard as I used to."

"I think that's it. But anyway, I got a call from Harv saying that you have to go to a racing interview of some sort. Harv sorted most of it out for you; you just have to arrive there." He explained, sounding a little excited about this.

Lightning gave a surprised look to Mack, an interview? He thought. He assumed that it must have something to do with the events of Allinoil and the World Grand Prix.

 **Oh...so I didn't end up talking much about Mater's Date...or did I? I don't know I guess I made a clear mention of it. But putting that aside (for now) Lightning's got an interview...could it have some relations to the World Grand Prix? Continuity anyone? :D**

 **See you next week for Chapter 4! ^^**


	4. Friendly Support

**Phew, almost thought I wouldn't be able to make it this week (like on time on the same day every week), but luckily I managed. ^^ So from where we left off...there's going to be an interview? But what could it be about? Could it be showing continuation of Cars 2? All will be answered in this chapter! :D**

 **I also think that I should pay more attention to Mater and Holley's relationship...I know Lightning and Sally are my main focus but I need to give them more acknowledgement, you know what I mean?**

 **Also, for those of you waiting on the last chapter of Forgetful Love, I have been working on it but it's going to be heaps longer than I thought and I have made a big checklist to cover all points for that chapter so I don't miss anything. ;)**

 **Anyway, enjoy Chapter 4 of What Happens Next! :)**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 4 –Friendly Support**

"Where is the interview? And when is it?" Lightning asked.

"Somewhere in Los Angeles in a couple of days I'm assuming. There's usually a lot of racing stuff going on there anyway so I wouldn't be surprised." Mack ended with a small chuckle, remembering the amount of times that he had driven Lightning to Los Angeles for almost all his racing events. "Oh, and I think Harv said you might be receiving something but I'm not sure." He added with sudden enthusiasm but then feeling unsure of what Lightning would be receiving.

Lightning looked surprised again. He wondered what it was. If it had something to do with the World Grand Prix it wouldn't be a trophy since he and Francesco tied, the last London race got too hectic to decide on a winner, and the Radiator Springs race was only for racing and nothing else.

He nodded in reply to Mack with an expression of surprise and slight excitement. "Okay, I look forward to it." Lightning ended with a smile before driving off.

"See you later, kid!" Mack called back to him with enthusiasm and a bright smile before parking himself at Flo's.

Not long later were the sound of Siddley's jet engines taking off over the town, and Lightning had headed back home only to find that Sally wasn't around.

She was at work; the question was where she was at? Was she up at Wheel Well or at the Cozy Cone? Before Lightning could figure out where she was, he could hear her voice from nearby. He smiled as he knew where she was before driving off to quickly see her.

As he was driving next door to the Cozy Cone, he thought of how he could help out Sally somehow with her work. He had helped her out before, but Sally insisted that she didn't mind the extra workload. She worried about his racing career, that Lightning's races and his practice were more important than him helping her out at Wheel Well and the Cozy Cone. But she knew that now he was off season and only had practice 3 or 4 times a week, so he had nothing else better to do than to help the cars he cared about the most.

Sally was in her office greeting two new customers who were booking into two separate cones right next to each other. As they left she turned to turn the fan on due to the summer heat getting into her metal skin and nearly overheating her engine. The front desk bell rang, and she turned to see that it was her boyfriend.

"Hello there, Cone for one?" She teased, while still in the work zone.

Lightning knew she was joking when he saw that smirk on her face. "Cone number one?" Lightning suggested, returning the tease with a small chuckle.

"Oh, sorry we're all booked out because my boyfriend repopulated the town four years ago." She ended, trying to contain her laughter as she mentioned Lightning right in front of him.

Unfortunately, Lightning laughing at her joke made her laughing too hard to contain. She laughed with him before they both slowed down and sighed with tiredness from all the laughter.

"So, how have you been? Did you get enough sleep? I saw you parked next to the front door when I got up." He explained, describing the events from earlier, wanting to know why she camped aside the front door instead next to him like she almost always would.

Before she could reply, Sally yawned as she looked down then drove out from the desk and next to Lightning. "I guess that I got so tired from being at Wheel Well organising things for so long that I didn't make it next to you." She ended with a small smile, almost gazing at Lightning.

As they edged nearer and nearer to kiss, they could hear more customers outside calling out to them and teasing their relationship. They both laughed internally before starting to part ways before Lightning remembered what Flo had told him a few moments ago.

"Oh, and Flo said she has your breakfast for you at her café." He added before he left the office.

"Thanks Stickers, tell her I'll be over there soon." She called back before greeting more customers.

Lightning turned and nodded in reply before passing a few fans which giggled at him as they drove by. He gave them a sheepish smile before he headed back to Flo's to tell Flo that Sally would be over soon.

Afterwards, Lightning went out cruising around town bumping into a few fans while meeting up with his friends such as seeing Red in front of the courthouse watering his flowers, and seeing Sarge who was training more recruits how to drive in the dirt and mud, and he saw Sheriff and was about to talk to him until he saw a car speeding so he sped off to track him down and give him a ticket.

The race car sighed; he was bored with no Mater around to hang out with. At the same time he was glad that Mater had found someone but he also missed the fun times they had. Even though Mater would only be gone for the day, it seemed like forever until his favourite tow truck would return home.

As he drove around town and headed towards Willy's Butte for more practice, he thought about his future. He almost chuckled in thought when he realised he was thinking about the future yet again.

Was racing all what he was going to do? He loved it for sure, but wouldn't it start getting repetitive after a while? He thought. He thought of when he would retire from racing, he knew that Doc was only a racing legend of only three years but Lightning had now been racing for over four years, and he wasn't stopping now. There was still so much left in him.

A family or marriage was what made Lightning think about when he should retire from his racing career. He knew that if he had never met Sally he wouldn't be thinking about a family or even marriage when it came to his racing career.

He loved her so much, he wanted to ask the question to her but from the discussion they had yesterday, he didn't know when. Then again, he had his doubts on whether she would say yes or not. It wasn't because the lack of love in their relationship or that he was rushing things, he just felt ready that's all.

But from what Sally told him yesterday, it didn't seem like she was ready. She seemed to depend on her career more than their relationship. He was beginning to think that she was valuing her career more than her relationship. He understood why but he was still concerned about it.

While racing another lap around Willy's Bute, he thought about all the things that Doc taught him. He was glad to have had such a great racing mentor. He felt saddened the day he left the world, but he would still forever remain a legend.

Lightning then started to wonder if he was a legend himself, he had won four Piston Cups and was invited to the World Grand Prix of all racers that race for the Piston Cup so he was starting to think that he was turning out to be a legend just like his mentor. The hotshot race car was starting to become a part of history's greatest racers of all time, on and off dirt roads.

So for the remainder of the morning, Lightning tired himself by doing countless laps around Willy's Butte and then travelling out into the country to do some more off road practice while thinking the entire time about his future, both his racing career and how his and Sally's relationship will turn out to be.

Meanwhile, Sally was holding up well at the Cozy Cone. She had a brief check in at Wheel Well just to see how things were going before she headed back into town only to realise that she hadn't eaten all day. She had forgotten to see Flo for breakfast. She gasped as soon as she realised that she had forgotten and increased her speed so she could get to Flo's faster. And at last, she made it to Flo's.

"Afternoon Flo, sorry I missed breakfast. I got so caught up in work and all that I forgot." Sally said feeling a little regretful for missing out on breakfast.

"Honey, we all have been caught up in work lately. I think after all that World Grand Prix and spy stuff we've become even more popular!" Flo stated before purposely dropping a can for Sally in front of her.

Flo drove off to give a few more customers their orders before she parked next to Sally for a little chat.

"You think Lightning's making this place popular by the day?" Sally asked, seeming curious how everyday only got harder as they went on.

Flo looked up in thought for a moment with a small hum. "You know, I don't see much of a difference. Business is business for me, besides I always have customers, even when there weren't any." She explained with a wink, hinting the events from before the place was put back on the map.

Sally chuckled before taking another mouthful of her meal. "That's true."

"So, how are you and McQueen doing?" She asked, almost suggestively meaning she wanted to know more about their relationship.

Sally rolled her eyes and gave a sheepish smile, she didn't mind talking about her relationship with Lightning, she just felt insecure whenever Flo brought it up to her in that tone.

"We're fine I guess. Well, we were talking a lot yesterday about our future together..."She trailed off, looking down at the ground and rubbing her tire nervously.

"What's wrong, honey?" The retired show car asked, sounding concerned for her best friend.

The light blue Porsche sighed heavily, it was a topic that would make her fall deep into her emotions, it was because of how strongly it affected her life, as well as Lightning's. She took another mouthful of her lunch before replying in a saddened tone.

"I think he wants to ask the question." Sally hinted, looking down as she explained why she was so down.

Flo gasped with a smile, Lightning wanted to marry her. "That's great news! What's the problem then?" She asked, doubting that marriage was going to be a problem between the couple.

"I guess I'm just worried about how things would turn out afterwards, and he said stuff about starting a family too, but what about our careers? We'd be too busy to do anything." She explained, highlighting the negatives about being tied down; mostly explaining that with the careers they have it could be too difficult to handle.

Flo sighed and shook her hood in doubt; Sally was bringing herself down by something that should be an event that will always make a car smile in their lifetime. "Now, don't you be doubting yourself. The most important thing should be your relationship and not your career." Flo stated with a smile of pride. "And I can see that he definitely takes his relationship with you seriously." She added.

Sally lifted her frown a little but still looked down in concern and worry. She knew Flo was right, but felt that their careers weighed more than their relationship. The real problem was why she was having doubt about their relationship? It had held strongly for the past 4 years, what made marriage such a big deal that it could affect their careers?

Perhaps it was the idea of Lightning wanting to eventually settle down, maybe the racing was getting a bit too much for Lightning lately, that or he needed to take a break from racing. Luckily, he was off season so he had plenty of time until next summer to think about his relationship with Sally.

Or, as Sally began to think more in depth about the situation, perhaps it was the fact that Radiator Springs had booming businesses again after 40 years of nothing but quiet radio music, she felt too happy to stop working now. But why would she have to stop work? When Sally thought of a reason to her problems, she found more problems. It complicated her and made her grunt in annoyance.

"I know but, I can't think of a straight answer to this situation." She exclaimed with a quiet moan at the end.

"That's because you didn't give yourself a question to answer."

Flo sounded very wise when she commented back on Sally's exclamation. Sally looked up with a hint of surprise in her expression, the rest seemed still saddened. She knew Flo was right, but it made her think almost crazily about what the question that she was supposed to ask herself was.

"But, what would that question be?" Sally asked, hoping that she would know the answer.

Flo let out a small chuckle, confusing Sally a little before Flo drove in front of her and faced her from the front. "You'll find out in time, I found the answer and I am happy as ever with Ramone. Don't worry, honey you'll find the answer soon enough." She stated with a wink before driving off to serve more customers.

She gave a confused look to Flo before she let out another deep sigh and finishing her lunch then driving back to Cozy Cone for work.

It was a confusing thing to think about. What was the question, and when would she find out about it? She thought to herself. It was something that remained on her mind for almost the entire day.

It was around 5pm that Lightning was taking a short nap at home from his long day of practice races by himself when he heard the doorbell ring. It startled him awake so much that he thought he was asleep in his trailer right before a race.

"I'm ready!" He called out revving his engine as he opened his eyes and realised where he was. "I mean I'm coming!" He called out, correcting himself feeling embarrassed that someone may have heard that.

He almost raced to the door, but due to his tiredness from his nap he was a little slow but managed to open the door before the doorbell would ring again. The door opened and he saw that it was Mater home early from his date.

"Mater? I thought you were leaving for the whole day?" Lightning wondered, thinking that Mater would be gone the whole day.

"Nah, Sid's pretty fast to get me to places." He explained in a calm cool tone before widening his eyes with excitement. "Oh, guess where Holley took me!"

"I don't know, Paris?" Lightning guessed, still with heavy eyelids from his nap as he welcomed Mater into his house.

"No we already been there, we went to Brazil!" Mater announced, still containing much of his excitement. "Oh, and you would not believe what happened there." Mater added with a suggestive look and sudden pitch change in his voice.

"What?" Lightning asked, possibly already having a good idea on what Mater was going to say.

"Well it seems me and Holley is on the same page as you and Miss Sally." Mater said with pride.

Lightning immediately took this out of context, he was thinking that Mater's relationship was exactly the same as his and Sally's. Was Mater thinking about marriage? And so soon? Lightning thought as he gasped and gave a shocked and worried look.

 **Oh boy someone's not happy! XD Why would Mater think about marriage anyway? He's only been with Holley for how long? And they've only had one official date so...could it be marriage? Or could Lightning be overreacting and it wasn't marriage?**

 **Well, you'll have to wait until next week to find out, so see you then! ^^**


	5. Time Off

**Oh Man did I leave a cliffhanger in the last Chapter? Well, relax yourselves because the end of the cliffhanger is here! ^^ Again, I'm still weirded out by Mater and Holley's relationship but I am giving acknowledgment to it in this story just to be fair :)**

 **Also, for those of you still waiting on the last Chapter of Forgetful Love, brace yourselves because it's nearly complete and really long! *faints***

 **Anyways, enjoy Chapter 5 of What Happens Next! :D**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 5 – Time Off**

"What!? You can't be, a-and so soon!? You're not ready!" Lightning exclaimed, with deep concern for his friend.

Mater gave a confused look to his pal, he didn't understand what Lightning meant by not being ready. He was much older than Lightning and even Holley for that matter but it didn't bother Holley or anyone else that he was much older than how he acted.

"Huh? What do you mean? I'm plenty old for a little kiss." He ended with a smirk and an inside chuckle.

"But you're not-wait what?" Lightning began to say, before registering what Mater just told him.

Both cars were just as confused as each other, they had no idea what either one was talking about.

"I just said that me and Holley kissed. What were you thinkin'?" Mater asked, giving a confused look with slight suspicion.

Lightning gasped in embarrassment, he didn't realise Mater meant it in that way. He let out a sigh of relief that it was only a kiss, but as he took in his relief from finding out his best friend wasn't on the exact same page as him, he felt a tire nudge his in need of attention.

"What?" Lightning asked, forgetting what Mater just asked him.

"Were you thinking that me and Holley were getting' married?" Mater questioned, before realising with proof in Lightning's expression that it was what he had originally thought, he laughed at the thought. "McQueen we ain't that far into our relationship, it just started!" He stated with a bright smile.

"Wow you got me worried for a second there." Lightning said with a chuckle.

Mater then quickly realised what Sally and Lightning's relationship was coming to. He gasped with excitement as his best friend was thinking of marriage.

"You're thinking' of proposin' to Miss Sally!?" Mater said with excitement, almost jumping in his tires for his best friend.

Lightning looked down at the ground, a little nervous and saddened. "Well I have but…I don't know." He replied in a serious yet saddened and worried tone.

"What's wrong?" The tow truck asked with a worried look on his face.

"I don't know Mater; it's just that…well she said she's not ready. But I feel that I am..." Lightning explained in an empathetic tone while still looking down but now rubbing his tire against the ground in worry.

Mater looked down too and thought of how he could help his best friend feel better about his relationship. He knew too little about the topic since he had only just started a new relationship but he had seen the same problem with other couples around town in the past. Mater looked at Lightning with a caring smile, when he thought of something that could cheer him up.

"You know what, how about we go tractor tippin' tonight? Just to get your mind off things?"

The red race car first gave the tow truck a confused look as he had suddenly changed the subject, but when he thought about it, he found it to be a great idea to unwind for a while and he hadn't been doing much with his best pal lately. It wasn't long ago that he and his friends had returned home from the World Grand Prix and Mater's magnificent wits to discover who the mastermind behind the Allinoil scam was.

Ever since that day things had been almost so busy that he had spent time with his girlfriend and having several home interviews as well as nonstop race practice but barely any time with his best friend. Luckily Mater was enjoying himself with his new gadgets, they allowed him to keep some of them such as the rockets and voice command. Throughout the week Mater actually spooked lightning into thinking Mater was a taco truck. Lightning was glad that he was entertained throughout the week without his presence as much, which meant he didn't have to apologize.

"Sure why not? We haven't been since before the World Grand Prix." Lightning replied with a brightened smile.

Lightning was looking forward to doing some Tractor Tipping with his best friend; it seemed like a long time since they did, and since the events of the World Grand Prix their friendship has only grown stronger. He at first had doubts in Mater and sometimes felt embarrassed around him when he acted like himself in front of many other cars, but now he was more comfortable with Mater acting like he does.

Mater replied with a smile of glee and then drove towards the front door. "Well, I'll see you out in the field tonight. See ya later buddy!" He called out as he left towards out of town.

The race car smirked and let out a small chuckle before he stretched his tires and left his home to go to Flo's for something to eat. He hadn't seen Sally since morning so he was hoping that she would be there too, Lightning loved it when they were both parked at Flo's with their food and staring up at the night sky while nuzzling each other's fenders. It was a moment they first shared together before everything became what it would be.

As he arrived at Flo's he found Sarge, Sheriff, Ramone and Red already parked at Flo's with many other customers. Flo was serving Red his usual before she saw Lightning pull up aside a fuel pump, she quickly grabbed his usual and placed it in front of him. Lightning thanked her and then had something to eat, but then Sarge pulled alongside him to talk about the previous events from the day.

"You know McQueen you don't have to keep watching my recruits train; you could join them while you're off season?" Sarge suggested in a blunt tone.

"No thanks, Sarge. I'm happy watching from the sidelines." Lightning replied in a polite tone before taking another sip of his meal. "Besides, I already race on dirt so I don't need to train that much."

Sarge gave a suspicious look to the race car; he gave an uptight frown before replying with a small insult. "For someone who race fasts, you can be quite slow at times."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lightning asked, looking confusingly to Sarge before Sarge rolled his eyes and drove away.

He knew that Sarge was just being himself, he remembered when he done some off road training, it was long and hard work. It tired the race car to pieces after every training session. Lightning didn't understand why he would need that sort of training off road for races; he doesn't do obstacle courses in his races.

So he continued with his meal, hoping that Sally would show up soon. He wanted the comfort of her by his side; no other car could be more loving than his girlfriend. Some cars began to leave, Lightning started to feel a little worried about where Sally was at. So after he finished his meal he left Flo's and drove up to Wheel Well where he found more of his Radiator Springs friends and a few fans.

He looked around and even asked for her but no one would answer, until he saw Sally cleaning out one of the hotel rooms.

"Sally?" He called out as he parked near the bar, watching Sally race into another room before coming out a few moments later.

Sally stopped for a moment and turned to see Lightning looking at her with concern. "Stickers, what are you doing here? I was going to see you at Flo's in about fifteen minutes." She exclaimed before zooming off again.

Lightning shook his hood in disbelief for a moment. "Wait, you were?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yes." Lightning faintly heard from Sally in one of the hotel rooms. "How about you go down there and order my usual?" She asked, returning into view with a small smile.

The race car shrugged his fenders and replied with a small smile and nod before slowly driving off back down to the town. He wanted to drive down with her but he would have to wait, he just wished there was something he could do during his off time. He didn't mind relaxing and training from time to time during his off season but it felt a little too repetitive, he had been doing this for 4 years now and he had only now just started to get sick of how repetitive it was, it could also be that all his friends were too busy when he wasn't.

But as Lightning drove through the darkened tunnel, he remembered that he would be seeing Mater later that night for tractor tipping, he couldn't wait to spend some quality time with his best friend. Lightning knew that his friends would be busy, but they would almost always make time to spend with Lightning in any way they could.

About half an hour later, Lightning was waiting feeling awkward around everyone else since he was still waiting on Sally to come down, and he didn't want to have anything because he had something a little while ago. So he just sat parked next to a gas pump waiting for his girlfriend to arrive.

At long last, the blue Porsche had arrived. Lightning sighed in relief that he wouldn't have to wait any longer, he went to approach her but Flo got to her first.

"Hey honey, you look like you need a can of this." Flo suggested, already carrying what Sally would usually order.

"You read my mind." Sally replied, lowering her eyelids with a smirk as she continued to drive towards Lightning."Hey stickers." She said, widening her eyes, seeming happy that she was glad to see him.

"So, what took you so long?" He asked, not greeting her first as Sally parked alongside the race car.

Flo drove up to the couple and gave Sally her usual can while she silently suggested some for Lightning, but he turned down and focused all of his attention on Sally. After a long indulging slurp from her can, Sally turned slightly to see Lightning's magnificent blue eyes. She still couldn't believe how similar in colour their eyes were, though from other's perspective Sally's seemed greener, she thought it would have to do something with her paint colour.

"Just a few more customers wanting to book a room in six months." She replied, giving one last glance to Lightning before returning to her can.

Lightning almost gasped in shock, he hadn't paid much attention to the bookings at the motels but was surprised to hear how busy it was. "Six months? Wow!"

Sally let out a small chuckle, as if Lightning shouldn't be shocked over something like this. "Yeah, well that's what happens when a famous race car decides to live in a town with only two motels." She teased, nudging Lightning's fender.

Lightning replied in a chuckle, he had to admit he felt a little embarrassed that he had forgotten why the town was so popular again.

So until late sunset, the two spent their time at Flo's having a pleasant chat and a few nuzzles of each other's fenders while hearing some of the other cars around them adoring how strong their relationship was.

The two cars parted ways, Sally went to the Cozy Cone Motel to finish up on work while Lightning drove over to Mater's to go tractor tipping. It was a little under an hour since the sun had set but there was still a hint of blue light towards the west, the mountains were almost completely blackened by the darkness but soon would the moon rise and fill the night with a natural dimmed blue light.

"Hey Mater, you there?" Lightning called out, looking around as he entered Mater's yard.

He searched with a worried expression, it grew quiet too quickly and he began to feel anxious. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Mater jump scared Lightning from behind.

"Mater! Don't scare me like that!" Lightning cried, giving a horrifying look to his best friend.

Mater chuckled in laughter, he loved to tease Lightning. "Oh buddy, you know I was just teasing ya." He said with a smile as he nudged Lightning with his tire. "Now you ready to get scared by Frank again?"

"Me, scared?" Lightning asked, doubting that he was still scared of Frank. "Of course not, I'm much faster than him." He bragged to Mater, grinning in the process.

The tow truck chuckled again as he exited his yard and towards the long and almost empty road that lead to Ornament Valley, Lightning followed, looking forward to spending some fun time with his best friend.

Once they arrived at the open field, they saw their opportunity to strike. The tractors were asleep and Frank was nowhere in sight. The two cars grinned mischievously at each other before sneakily driving into the field and ready to tip the first tractor they saw.

Mater honked a few while Lightning revved his engine quieter than the first time he did it so that it wouldn't wake them all up. The rev of his engine made three tractors jump and fall onto their backs and simultaneously and then make a farting noise. Mater and Lightning snickered at each other before continuing to sneak around and tip all the tractors.

Lightning was glad that this time he had headlights to help him around, he wouldn't have to stick close by someone or rely on the moonlight to guide his way through the night. To keep things low, Lightning had his headlights on low beam; the light emitting from them was almost at the same level as Mater's but slightly brighter. He was able to see another tractor off in the distance and tip it before Mater got to it.

"This is fun, and we haven't even heard from Frank yet!" Mater whispered cheerfully as he approached Lightning.

"This was a great idea Mater; I really missed doing this while I was away." The race car replied in a whisper tone, giving a pleased smile to his tow truck friend.

Luckily, they were able to spend the next few minutes tipping every tractor they could see before they even heard from Frank. As they left they heard a loud moan and they both knew it was Frank waking up and seeing all the tractors tipped over. Lightning and Mater laughed together as they drove back into town.

It was late, nearly after 10pm. Mater said goodnight to his pal and promised that he had more fun planned for tomorrow, Lightning nodded, looking forward to seeing what else Mater had in store for him.

"I look forward to it." He said, beginning to drive off.

"Goodnight buddy!" Mater called out before reversing into his garage.

And with that, Lightning headed home and went straight to bed.

 **Just basically wanted that chapter to acknowledge how busy Sally and Lightning were, and the strength of Mater and Lightning's friendship ^^ So, what does Mater have planned for the day after? I will admit that the pacing is a little slow with this story but I just don't like missing any important details to the plot. If you find some unnecessary please let me know :)**

 **So I'll see you readers next week for Chapter 6! :D**


	6. Date Plans

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 **I think I need to stretch out the timeline in this story, this story so far is only over the span of a couple of days or so, with what I have planned for this story, it may seem rushed... ^^; Also I want to strengthen Mater and Lightning's friendship, because I might want to use it later in the story, but I won't tell why...;)**

 **Anyways, enjoy Chapter 6 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **P.S Final Chapter of Forgetful Love will be posted soon! :D**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 6 – Date Plans**

The next day came to Lightning like no surprise. He opened his eyes to see that Sally was already gone and the sound of Sarge and Fillmore arguing from across the road which made him sigh heavily as he left his home to get some breakfast at Flo's.

When he arrived, he was surprised to actually see Sally there parked next to a gas pump talking to Flo with two cans of breakfast in front of her. He saw her turn to look at him with a greeting but slightly flirtatious look.

"Morning, Stickers. Did you have a good sleep?" She asked, giving Lightning that dreamy eye look.

Just as Sally asked that, Lightning stretched his tyres and drove closer to his girlfriend.

"You have no idea, that sleep was great."

"So, I heard you have an interview out of town tomorrow?" Sally stated, changing the subject and giving Lightning his breakfast.

Lightning almost instantly rolled his eyes, he sometimes felt like his whole life revolved around interviews and racing but he knew all too well for that not to be true. He had friends that were practically family and a place to call home.

"Yeah, Harv says I might be getting something, but I don't know what it is." Lightning replied, looking at the ground seeming worried and a little down on himself.

Sally looked at him with concern, but just at that moment, Mack pulled up for his breakfast. He parked out the front of Flo's as he was too large to go further inwards even when he wasn't tied to Lightning's trailer. He smiled politely as he asked Flo for his usual and continuing what Lightning had explained to Sally.

"We have to leave by nine tomorrow, just letting you know kid." Mack told Lightning with a wink.

"Thanks Mack, I'll be there." He replied, smiling at Mack. "So yeah I have to go out of town, but I think it'll just be for the day so no need to worry." Lightning explained, feeling that he was neglecting his girlfriend.

"Oh don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Sally assured him with a caring smile before getting back to her breakfast.

Shortly after breakfast, everyone left to do their jobs while Lightning went to Doc's memorial to mourn his loss and think about his racing. Doc Hudson truly was the champion of racing; he was the racing legend, way better than The King.

It was sad to hear that he had passed away while Lightning wasn't home. He was out training at Palm Mile Speedway, Doc would've come with but he said he hadn't been feeling well. After he heard about his death, he felt like quitting racing forever. But eventually he decided to keep on racing and keep Doc's legacy alive. He knew that quitting his career was not what Doc would've wanted.

Lightning truly missed his mentor. He couldn't believe that the grumpy old car he first saw turned out to be a racing legend and became his racing mentor. Tears came to Lightning's eyes as he let out a deep sigh and left the building.

He decided not to do any laps today, so instead he went around town letting fans take pictures of them with him while he told them about his racing and his training, as well as his mentor Doc and how he was a big inspiration to him.

By then, it was only 11am. There was still so much of the day that hadn't passed yet. The race car wondered what else he could do to make the time fly by. He decided to see if Mater wasn't busy towing Otis so he could hang out with him for the rest of the morning until lunch.

He drove past the movie theatre and saw that Mater was purchasing tickets for the upcoming movie The Good Dinosaur; he wondered why Mater was buying four and not just one or two for that matter. He drove up to Mater and almost startled him because of how quietly Lightning was driving.

"Hey buddy, whatcha got there?" He asked, pointing with his tire to the tickets on the table in front of Mater.

"I got four tickets for a double date to see The Good Dinosaur!" Mater answered with joy.

"Four tickets? But for who?" Lightning asked, seeming clueless as Mater chuckled in response.

"Why for you me and our ladies of course! I asked Holley and she said she's free again and Sally told me that we should all double date sometime so I decided we all go to the movie together!" Mater explained with excitement as he almost jumped and almost losing the tickets.

Lightning smiled, he was now definitely looking forward to spending time with his best friend and his girlfriend, while also getting to know Holley a bit more. He didn't know much about her, but knew that she cared for Mater very much. A nice relaxing movie with the cars he cared about the most, what more could one car want? Lightning asked himself, giving a dreamy look.

"You alright, buddy?" Mater asked, nudging him with his tire seeing that Lightning was distracted.

Lightning looked around almost stunned but then saw he was brought back to reality. "Huh? Oh, sorry Mater. I can't wait for this double date. It'll also give me a chance to know your girlfriend some more, since you know a whole lot about my girlfriend anyway." Lightning ended with a small chuckle.

"Well that's great then; I'll see you later tonight buddy! And don't forget to bring Miss Sally!" He called out as he drove away with excitement.

Lightning laughed in response and waved goodbye with his tire. "Alright see you then!"

Now what was Lightning supposed to do till night came around? Well, he thought a nice camp out in his trailer would be nice, so he drove to find and ask Mack where his trailer was and then he drove off and stayed in there for a few hours watching television and preparing the trailer for the next day.

About two hours later, it was nearing the end of lunch time (around 3pm). Lightning quickly realised what the time was and drove off to Flo's to grab some lunch. He knew he was late because all his friends had left already.

"Well, what's your excuse hot rod?" Flo asked, teasing him as she served him his lunch.

"Napped out in the trailer." Lightning replied, panting a little as he had rushed to get there.

"You know, you do have a home to do that?" She added, looking over to his house. "And what's with you and your trailer? Find it Cozy because it reminds of you staying in the Cozy Cone?" She asked, teasing and raising an eyelid with a smirk.

Lightning thought about what the retired show girl car just asked him, he was surprised how in depth Flo could get. His eyes widened in surprise and his smile widened slightly. "You know Flo, that's actually right. I guess I miss sitting in that old Cozy Cone." He replied, looking over to Cone Number one which was currently occupied by someone else.

During lunch, he looked over at his old cone and remembered the first few days he was in town and the second night in which Sally offered him to sleep in one of the cones. He didn't know why, but he loved reminiscing about the first days he was in Radiator Springs.

Afterwards, he had finished lunch and drove off to see what Sally was up to, he knew she was working but hadn't seen her since morning so he went up to Wheel Well to see that Sally was taking a short break and letting other workers take her spot for a short while.

"Hey Sally," Lightning called out as soon as he saw her parked near the edge of the cliff. "How have you been?" He asked in a friendly and caring tone.

Sally turned with a glistening smile to see that Lightning was here, she loved being off break. It was a chance to hang out with her boyfriend or simply just relax.

"Hey Lightning, I've been doing okay since you last saw me this morning. Oh, and no need to tell me. Mater already told me about the double date tonight." She added, leaning closer to Lightning.

"Oh," Lightning replied, realising that she already knew and was about to tell her that same thing. "You know I was actually gunna tell you that but I guess you already know."

Sally smirked before looking over at Lightning "Yeah, I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with them, and you of course." She replied, giving Lightning a dreamy look that seemed to always get to Lightning.

Lightning chuckled and then felt a deep urge to kiss her passionately right there, he always loved it when she gave that dreamy look to her, but he decided not to when he heard a fan from behind.

"Hey Lightning McQueen! It's so nice to finally meet you!" The fan said, almost jumping in her wheels.

The race car gave a sheepish look to the fan while Sally silently chuckled to herself then left his side to get back to work.

"Um, hi there. Did you want my autograph or..."

"Oh no, I just wanted to have a nice, friendly chat!" She replied with a grin. "I've been meaning to meet you for so long! I just never had the money to fly away from home to get here!"

"Really?" Lightning asked, with widened eyes, almost surprised to know that someone like this fan would fly just to see him. "Where are you from? Overseas?"

The blue car nodded. "I'm from Australia, as you can tell from my model." She answered with a wink, showing off her model to him in a non-flirtatious way.

Lightning took a good look at her, smiled and then raised an eyelid in confusion when he remembered that she said she was from Australia. "Wait, you're from Australia? I didn't know these kinds of models existed there. I thought there were just carngaroos?"

She rolled her eyes as it had seemed she had heard this before. "That's what all you Americans say about Australians, and I actually get annoyed by that but since it's coming from you I guess I can make an exception."

"Hey McQueen!" Someone called from a distance.

Lightning turned to see that it was Mater; he was waving at him franticly with a wide grin. Lightning sighed as he had to leave the fan to see what his best friend wanted.

"Sorry, but I have to go now. I'll see you around." He friendly said to the blue car as he began to drive away.

"Wait!" She cried. "I never told you my name." She called out, almost laughing.

Lightning stopped, then turned and asked for her name.

"I'm Daniela. See you around!" Daniela called out, driving away almost in a hurry.

The race car chuckled in reply before turning back to Mater, who almost startled him again, but this time with a goofy face.

"Oh, hey there. Have you seen my friend Mater?" Lightning jokingly asked to his friend.

"Oh buddy you know I was just playin' with ya! Now are ya ready to see what else I have planned?" He asked with widened eyes of excitement.

Lightning nodded, opening his mouth a little in excitement. "Lead the way."

Lightning grew surprised and confused when Mater had stopped by the movie theatre and looked at Lightning as if he should know by now. He looked around and then at the sky, it was still pretty bright. He wondered why Mater brought him to the movie theatre now instead of later.

"Um, Mater? Why are we here now? It's not even sunset yet."

"I know that but I thought we could just hang out until then...maybe talk about a certain somethin' you want to ask Miss Sally?" He asked suggestively with a wink and a smirk.

Lightning looked down, all of a sudden feeling very anxious and shy. "I don't know Mater...I really want to but I'm worried she'll say no. Maybe it's not supposed to happen...I just...I don't know." He ended with a sigh as he looked at the ground sadly and rubbed his tires against the ground.

"I know just what you need, follow me." Mater called out as he suddenly drove off out of the movie theatre, leaving Lightning confused and saddened.

He followed his tow truck friend, and saw that he was driving back into town, but then he stopped right in front of a particular store. Lightning had followed him but grew more anxious once he realised what store he had brought him to.

"Mater...I don't know. Maybe Sally has a point with waiting..." Lightning said, doubting himself even more because of his anxiety.

"Now I understand your concern Lightnin' but I'd say that you two are more than ready to do this. Besides, you don't have to have the wedding tomorrow you can always wait till next year or somethin'." Mater assured his friend.

Lightning looked up at his friend and smiled, knowing that he said the right thing to him. So with a deep breath he drove into the store to find the perfect thing for Sally. Afterwards, he had shown what he bought to Mater, he gave his friend an excited look as to say what he bought was perfect.

"McQueen you just made tonight's date even more exciting for me to be a part of!" The tow truck exclaimed with excitement, almost bouncing out of his wheels.

"See you soon, buddy." Lightning replied, driving home to get ready.

So Lightning drove home and readied himself for the double date, but first he looked in the mirror and practiced what he wanted to ask to Sally. It felt incredibly stupid and only made him feel more nervous. He stopped doing so once he heard the door open and Sally come in wanting to get ready herself for the double date.

 **Oooh what's going on here? Someone wants to ask something!? Well, will Sally say yes to Lightning's big question? How will the date turn out? Find out in the next Chapter next week! ^^**

 **Just to let you know, that fan that drove into Lighting was me, I made up a name XD**


	7. A Special Surprise

**I have just been so excited to write this chapter that I may have gone a little overboard but oh well ^^; Anyways, I have pretty much finished my other FanFic Forgetful Love which means I'll be putting more focus onto this story, now that could mean more updates if nothing else decides to get in the way ;)**

 **Well, enjoy the chapter. I don't know how long this story is going to be, but with the plot I have in mind and with the pace I'm going at it might be as long as the other FanFic I pretty much just finished...**

 **Enjoy Chapter 7 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 7 – A Special Surprise**

It was sunset; it was time for the double date Mater had planned for the four of them. They were all very excited to spend some time with each other, Lighting however was extremely nervous. He didn't want to ask her because of how worried he felt and how she told him that now wasn't the right time. But when he remembered what Mater told him earlier it made him feel slightly more relaxed.

So, Mater and Holley arrived at the movie theatre, to see that Lightning and Sally had not yet arrived but not long later after Mater and Holley bought popcorn and found a spot to watch the film; they saw the couple drive in and give their tickets over so they could pass.

"Hey McQueen, over here!" Mater called out waving a tire, making Holley giggle at Mater's enthusiasm.

Lightning turned to see Mater waving excitedly to them; they drove over and parked next to them in between the speaker poles.

"It's nice to have the four of us get together." Holley stated, looking over at her boyfriend and Lightning and Sally with a nod and a smile. "This will be a great time to get to you all better than I already do."

"You mean without looking us up on the database?" Sally joked, making the others laugh.

Holley chuckled the most, knowing that the joke was related to her spy career but then pulled up a screen on her bonnet. "Actually I do have you all on here, especially Lightning here because of his celebrity status." She said pulling up a window that showed some images and known facts about Lightning.

Lightning felt embarrassed when he saw that Holley had brought up images of him, he wanted to not think about that for a little while and focus on his relationship with Sally.

Not long later, the movie began to start, so Holley turned off her screen and focused all her attention the movie and Mater. She nuzzled close with him, knowing that his rust felt harsh against her smooth and almost perfect frame, she smiled with warmth and began to watch the movie.

Sally did the same to Lightning, knowing that this was going to be a great night with just them relaxing and watching a movie together.

There was a promotion for a movie that was about to be released on DVD, it started with the sound of a small and sweet crying sound before it quickly vanished and small giggles of laughter echoed around. It started at the beginning of a car's life. This made Lightning and Sally think deeply about starting a family, and it worried Lightning more.

When the movie started, it opened up with a question about what happened millions of years ago, before showing the dinosaurs in the night looking at an asteroid that flew right past them.

"Boy I tell you what this is a pretty darn interesting movie." Mater stated with surprise.

Holley raised an eyelid and hummed. "I'm still not grasping this theory. Dinosaurs would not have the ability to talk to us cars and we cars would not be speaking like this little car is with the dinosaur." She stated, wanting to understand the logic of the movie.

"Don't worry about it, there's no need for everything to be logical." Sally assured her, feeling that Holley needed to spend more time away from her spy career.

As the movie carried on, Holley tried to grasp the concept of dinosaurs and cars living in harmony together, and with the fact that dinosaurs could speak their language while cars couldn't. Lightning enjoyed looking at how similar he looked to one of the dinosaurs, Sally felt excited every time the screen moved towards the little ancient car, it made her think of how creative the film makers were.

Lightning was thinking the entire time when to ask Sally the question. He was too nervous and knew that right now during the movie would definitely not be the best time, so as the movie came to its peak of the problem he thought of a way to ask her alone as to not ruin the moment.

It began to feel sad as the young car had driven away from his companion and had gotten lost in the forest. As the dinosaur struggled to find the little car in the pouring rain, everyone in the theatre watched in deep worry as they saw the young car become emotionless. It was a shocking and sad moment, but the sad moments weren't over yet.

Once the young car had returned home and rubbed up against the dinosaur, it made everyone cry in tears. It was a very emotional moment, which made Sally and Holley feel weak and sad. Lightning huddled closer to Sally and nuzzle her side, and so did Mater to Holley.

As the credits that signified the film ended, everyone began to leave. To ensure that he would ask Sally tonight, he suggested that they all wait for everyone else to leave first before leaving themselves.

"Well, I do see a clear opening. How about we leave now?" Holley suggested, looking over towards a large gap wide enough for the four of them to pass.

"I'd rather drive home just with us around, it feels more comfortable." Lightning stated, looking over at Mater with a wink, hinting at what he was planning to do.

Mater gasped, and then held his breath in excitement. Holley looked up and gave a confused look to Mater.

"Are you alright, Mater? Why are you holding your breath?" She asked.

Mater stopped holding in his breath and gave a sheepish smile to the girls looking at Mater confusingly. "Nothing." He answered guiltily.

When almost everyone else was gone, the girls decided that now it was a good time to go, so as Holley left first, Mater followed behind, Sally leaving next and Lightning slowly following but then called out to Sally.

Sally stopped in her tracks and turned around to see that Lightning had stopped. "Are you okay? What's with you boys tonight? Something going on?" She asked, raising an eyelid with a teasing smirk.

This was it; his heart began to race faster than anything. His sweat rolling down his bumper, eyes looking around in anxiety until they focused on the beautiful Porsche in front. Lightning knew that this was the moment, with silence echoing around them and the graceful moonlight reflecting off their paint that this was the moment he wanted to remember with her.

"I...have to ask you something." He said, looking down at the ground, too nervous to even look at her anymore.

"Yes?"

Lightning began to stutter as he tried to explain about their past and how happy he was with her up to this point, but it began to confuse Sally.

"Slow down and take a deep breath. What is it you want to ask me?" She asked, lowering her eyelids and giving a genuine smile.

The race car took the suggestion and took in a deep breath before he backed away a little and then turned around to open his trunk and reveal what he had bought earlier to her. He gently placed them on the ground, closed his trunk and turned around again. He couldn't help but see Sally's reaction; it was pure shock with a hint of happiness.

Sally looked down at the two golden hub caps in a neatly crafted box, her mouth hanging wide open with surprise.

"Sally..." He began to say to her, this made her look up almost instantly. "Will you marry me?" Lightning finally asked.

Tears came to Sally's eyes as she whispered yes to him and kissed him passionately. Relief and happiness came to Lightning as he was glad that she didn't take his proposal in another direction that could have ruined the moment.

It came clear now; Sally was now engaged to Lightning McQueen.

They both left the movie theatre with constant smiles on their faces; they looked around to see that it was late and that they should be heading home. On their way they saw Holley and Mater parked out the front of Mater's yard.

"There you two are. What took you so long?" Holley asked, driving away from Mater a little, approaching the couple.

Lightning and Sally looked at each other excitedly, wanting to share the news with her and Mater, though Lightning knew Mater helped him do this.

"Well I'm happy to say that Lightning and I are engaged now!" She announced, too happy and excited to keep it all contained.

"That's wonderful news!" Holley exclaimed with a widened smile. "Congratulations to you both!" She added.

"Glad to see you had it in there buddy!" Mater said to Lightning as he nudged Lightning's fender with his tire.

Lightning chuckled in reply. "Thanks Mater, I knew I could do it."

Just then, Holley got a call from Finn, telling her to leave immediately due to a new assignment.

"Sorry everyone, I have to leave. I loved the double date. It was a great idea. And again I congratulate you two on your engagement." Holley said to everyone before kissing Mater's fender and then opening up her wings ready to fly. "I'll see you soon Mater!" She called out before departing.

"I'll see you soon Holley!' Mater called out waving his tire as Holley flew off into the distance.

"Well, I guess we'll tell everyone else tomorrow. That way I can get these new hubcaps installed on my back tires." Sally explained, looking over at Lightning and then the town down the road.

"Then you get your two front ones when you're married! Right?" Mater exclaimed with excitement, but unsure if what he just said was true.

Lightning chuckled, feeling as though Mater was more excited than he was. Then Lightning remembered that he had to leave at around 9am.

"Of course Mater." Sally replied.

"But we'd better get going. I just remembered I have to get to an interview tomorrow morning. I want to get up early to tell everyone the big news." He implied, looking at Sally with a caring smile.

"Well alright then, see you two lovebirds tomorrow!" Mater called out before quickly driving into his yard and then his garage to go to sleep.

Lightning waved a tire at his friend before he and Sally made their way home. It had been a long day and both of them were ready to get a decent amount of shut eye before another busy and exciting day was to come.

"Let's just hope we get up before Mater does. I know for sure that he could beat us to it." Lightning stated teasingly, closing the door behind Sally as she drove in.

"Lightning I have known Mater for a long time, there's no doubt he'll get up before the sun even rises. Let's just wait and see till morning." Sally assured him before turning off the lights and then cozing up to her fiancé.

So as the moonlight reflected the town, everyone slept peacefully as the sound of peaceful whistling winds echoed throughout the county. It was a lovely and peaceful night; Lightning knew that having a peaceful night's rest with his now fiancé before telling everyone the big news was more than he could ask for.

As the sun rose, so did the grey clouds. Unfortunately there was going to be a surge of unexpected rain to hit the county in the morning and this made everyone turn on their windshields as they woke up to park at Flo's for breakfast.

Lightning and Sally woke up and headed straight for Flo's, not surprised to see Mater there already talking about last night's double date. They were lucky to catch him just before he told everyone the big news.

"Hey Mater, let us say that to everyone." Lightning insisted giving a guilty look to his friend.

"Oh, sorry buddy. You go on ahead and tell everyone the big news!" Mater said with excitement.

All the cars that were at the cafe looked over at Lightning and Sally, some asked questions, feeling that something really good had happened, most likely between the couple. There was a moment of silence that made everyone impatient and excited, before Lightning and Sally announced it.

"We're engaged!" They said in harmony.

There were many gasps heard then many cheers, some drove up to Lightning to congratulate him, same with Sally. Flo decided to give them a drink on the house to celebrate their engagement. A couple of cars vacated a spot in the shade from the rain to give to Lightning and Sally while they enjoyed breakfast.

But not long later Mack was calling out for Lightning. The truck approached Flo's and saw that Lightning was having breakfast with Sally and all his friends. When Lightning turned to see him he could tell that the expression on his face meant no good.

"Sorry kid, but we have to leave earlier due to this rain. Meet me when you're done here, okay? Don't be too long." Mack insisted.

Lightning sighed, looking saddened that he had to leave earlier than he thought. He was expecting more time with everyone to celebrate but he didn't expect rain to interfere with it.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." He replied, before taking a few more gulps of his breakfast and then turned to Sally giving her an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry; I wish we could spend more time together this morning."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll see you later tonight, besides I've got to get to work. Oh, and get those hub caps installed." Sally assured him, giving him a kiss on the fender.

Lightning smiled in reply before he left to find Mack already buckled up to his trailer. Mack activated the door to let the race car in and Lightning slowly drove in and before he knew it he was on the road to Los Angeles for his interview. This then made him think about what Harv had talked about earlier. He wondered what he would be getting from this interview, besides the crowds of fans and countless questions.

 **Woot Woot! She said yes! You guys excited to see what happens next? (no pun intended ;D) Well, unfortunately next Chapter will be pretty much talking about what the interview is about. I'll try to have continuity from Cars 2 in the next Chapter, plus more mention of Lightning and Sally. ;)**

 **Also I hope you liked my interpretation of how wedding rings work in this universe, plus for those of you who have seen The Good Dinosaur already, sorry but I haven't seen it yet so I made stuff up, don't judge me on that or say I've got it wrong I just made it up.**

 **Until next week, see you then! ^^**


	8. The Interview

**Here's Chapter 8! Phew, these past few days for me have been quite a struggle...not story wise but lately in my town it's been really hot and my room is like a sauna compared to the rest of the house and I refuse to sleep anywhere else because I love my bed. So I usually wake up a little sweaty in the mornings, but nothing really distrupts my sleep so I'm all good ^^**

 **Anyways, I wrapped up my other story Forgetful Love at the start of the week and I am so relieved to have finally gotten that done after an entire year of writing it (but trust me, I had school most of the time). Now I can focus all of my attention onto this story :D**

 **So enjoy Chapter 8 of What Happens Next! :)**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 8 – The Interview**

It was a long and almost quiet journey to Los Angeles, Mack wondered why Lightning had been so quiet during the trip, but looking through his camera he saw that the race car was in deep thought. So he decided to let him be and focus on the slippery roads ahead.

Lightning was thinking about the interview, but more importantly he was thinking about how Sally took the proposal so well after what she told him a few days ago. It made him feel happy yet worried and confused.

He turned on his television to see that his interview was going to be broadcasted; this made him think more about whether this was going to be extremely significant to his racing career. It had to do something with the World Grand Prix, he thought as soon as he saw Darrel Cartrip talking to a reporter.

With a deep sigh and long listen of what might be happening at the interview he turned the television off and stared out the window, worried about Sally and how she took the proposal. It seemed strange yet happy and unexpected for her to say yes to him so soon, especially since they had discussed before then about waiting a bit longer.

As another hour went by, so did another hour of silence. Nothing but soft music playing in the background while Lightning let his thoughts wonder and had Mack worrying about him while he was focused on the destination. Finally, Mack said something; he hated not talking to Lightning over long periods of time unless he was sleeping. So he quickly checked his camera just in case if he had fallen asleep and then talked to him.

"Hey kid, what's wrong?" he asked in a saddened tone.

Lightning looked up at the little screen in the corner to see Mack looking at him with concern and worry; he looked down worryingly and sighed before he replied.

"Well...I'm not sure if you overheard us this morning or if Mater told you first but...I proposed to Sally last night."

Mack's eyes widened in surprise as he gasped and felt proud for him. "Wow, you're ready to take this relationship to the next level? Did she say yes?" He asked, wanting to know more in detail how it went.

The race car shrugged with his tires and rolled his eyes slightly. "Well...yeah she did but it's just that...the other day we were talking about how we were going to wait a little longer. And then I asked her last night and she said yes within the blink of an eye. I just can't escape the feeling that something's wrong."

After processing all that he explained to him, Mack sighed deeply before looking at his camera again to see a more saddened Lightning.

"Look, I think it's just that it's such a big event that it overwhelmed the both of you. You'll feel better once we go home later tonight." Mack assured him.

"Thanks Mack, I look forward to it." Lightning replied with a growing smile of hope.

Mack nodded in reply and left him in silence until about twenty minutes later they had arrived in Los Angeles and were minutes away from where the interview was taking place. The rain had stopped and there were muddy puddles almost everywhere. The truck could already see a group of cars with their cameras and a few reporters waiting for Lightning to show up.

Lightning looked out the window and saw the reporters with their cameras ready to film and photograph him once he got out of the trailer. This made him think just how popular he was, but he knew he only felt comfortable around his closest fans which were like family to him.

So as Mack came to a halt and he felt Mack let go of the trailer and enable the safety legs to keep the trailer standing, he pressed the button to open the door and saw a gush of bright lights from the camera flashes and the sound of cars talking all at once making it impossible to understand a word they were saying.

"Okay drive aside everyone, he needs his space to get out." Mack insisted, brushing a tire against some of the crowd.

Some of the crowd pulled back, mainly because Mack was getting in the way, then some reporters headed straight towards Lightning and asked him many questions, most of which he couldn't understand.

"Okay, one at a time!" Lightning shouted, to silence the crowd. "One at a time."

The reporters looked at each other in silence, before Lightning pointed his tire at one of them to start speaking.

"Mr. McQueen, do you believe that this interview could determine the future of your racing career?" A reporter asked, moving the microphone closer to Lightning.

"Well, I don't think it's going to come to that. I don't think it's anything too important to do with my future racing seasons in the Piston Cup."

Another reporter shoved his way through, very eager and couldn't wait to ask Lightning his question. This made the current reporter he was talking to give him a dirty look and back away slightly.

"Do you think that today the official winner of the World Grand Prix will be announced?"

Lightning looked down, remembering the events of the World grand Prix and how he and Francesco were tied in the end after what happened in London. He wasn't sure of it, but he knew Mack would never lie to him unless it was for something good, but what made Lightning more intrigued was the fact that it could be the trophy for winning the World Grand Prix, however he did have his suspicions.

"It could be, I'm not entirely sure. I wasn't given enough information about this interview." He replied, shrugging his tires.

A moment later, Lightning's agent Harv drove into the scene, strongly requesting for all the interviewers to back away so he could get to him. The race car was relieved that his agent came; he didn't want these reporters messing with his mind about the whole interview and the many possibilities of why this interview was taking place.

"Harv, man am I glad to see you?" Lightning greeted with a smile.

"Good to see you, kid. Now follow me, I'll brush up on the details once we're inside." He added, directing Lightning to follow him towards the entrance of the building.

Lightning soon followed behind his agent, but unfortunately so did all the reporters, begging to ask more questions to McQueen. Luckily security had just rolled out by that time so they managed to hold them off until Lightning and Harv were inside.

The race car turned to the window for a moment to quickly se Mack showing himself off to the crowd but was disappointed to see that many kept their eyes and cameras peeled at the windows of the building, being forcefully pushed away by the security cars.

"Now McQueen, this interview I planned to kept private, however at the very end a very special announcement will be made so I will be allowing the reporters to come in." Harv said, letting him know what will happen afterwards.

Lightning moved his front tires back and forth with a worried look on his face, before looking up at Harv again to ask him something. "Just what is this interview about?"

"Most of it is about the results from the World Grand Prix, but don't be surprised if you hear a few personal questions being asked." Harv warned with a small smirk, now directing Lightning to a hallway with several doors.

Harv directed him down the hall, before Harv stopped at the right door, Lightning then thought that this must have something to do with him and the World Grand Prix, he then realised with widened eyes of surprise and sudden excitement that he might be getting the World Grand Prix trophy.

"Alright, here we go." Harv called out as he slowed down his speed and pressed a button on the floor that activated the door.

In the room, there was a small window with covered blinds, a light switch which activated all the lights in the room, and two cars talking to each other in a friendly manner. One of these cars was extremely familiar to Lightning.

"Lightning McQueen! Nice to'a meet you again!" The fellow Italian Formula One race car greeted.

McQueen half smirked, but then smiled. He knew it; this was definitely about the World Grand Prix. There was no other reason why Francesco was there too at the same place he had to go for his private interview.

"Hey Francesco, nice to see you again too." Lightning replied, driving further into the room before being greeted by the interviewer.

"Good morning Lightning McQueen. Nice to see you here ahead of time, we've just about wrapped up our interview." She implied, gesturing a tire to Francesco.

Francesco waved his tire at the interviewer, gesturing that it was fine for her to wrap up the interview sooner as to not keep Lightning waiting.

"Ah no need, we are finished here. Thank a'you for taking time to talk to a race car like'a me." He thanked her, giving her a wink which made her blush.

Lightning found this to be an opportunity to tease Francesco just like he did in the World Grand Prix.

He chuckled before he talked to start his teasing off with humour. "So, I see you haven't found yourself a lucky lady yet?" He asked, raising an eyelid and smirking as Francesco proceeded to leave the room but then stopped.

"Oh no no no, Francesco takes time to settle down with one beautiful car, but Francesco adores all of his admirers." He replied, giving a smirk and a wink to the interviewer again before slowly exiting the room.

Lightning half-chuckled, as to indicate to the formula one race car that he wasn't taking his words seriously. He turned and narrowed his eyelids, before raising them again and giving a pleasing smile.

"It is no joke McQueen; I am more like you than you think." He added, before raising his eyebrows several times at him before he left the room.

Harv quickly sighed as to change the subject back to what it initially was. "So, Lightning McQueen, meet Georgia Lane. She will be asking you several questions about the World Grand Prix and don't forget about those other ones I told you she might ask." He said, introducing the two cars to one another before paying more of his attention to Lightning.

"Got it, thanks." Lightning replied with a small smile.

"Alright, I'll leave you two to it." Harv said before exiting the room with the door closing behind him.

Georgia gave a warm smile to Lightning; he smiled in reply before the interviewer clearer her throat to begin the interview.

"So, Mr McQueen, welcome. I'm glad to have you today." She greeted.

Lightning greeted her with a gentle nod and reply. "Yep, it's good to be here."

Georgia cleared her throat again before speaking. "Okay so Lightning, you have been racing for over 4 years now, correct?" She asked, starting off with a more basic question, less relatable to why he had come to this interview.

"Yep." He replied with a nod. "I was a hotshot rookie, until I learnt how to race for the right reasons."

Lightning could see that this was all getting recorded on tape, he hoped that they wouldn't reveal everything to the public, but he did remember Harv saying that it was going to be private until the end. For safety precautions he decided not to reveal anything too detailed about his relationship with Sally or how much he had been practicing, worried that they think he's not doing much with his life and just focusing on racing. But it was what he loved, that and Sally of course.

"I see, so how did you feel about those events that occurred back in London on the final race of the Grand Prix? Did you have any idea what was going on? You captured the world by storm." She stated, sounding amazed and intrigued by what happened.

The race car chuckled in reply, remembering the events in London with Mater and how he had to hold onto Mater when he had his rocket boosters.

"Oh..." He started out in a humorous tone. "Well, it was pretty confusing for me at first, because I had no idea what Mater had been up to. I had just assumed he went back home but to my shock he was there, in London waiting for me at the pit stop...when he suddenly drove off.." Lightning explained, giving a concerned and confused look at the end.

The interviewer nodded and hummed a little in reply before looking down at the papers beneath her, reading line by line about what else she had to ask.

"And this turned out to be what led to everyone finding out who was behind the Allinoil scam. Also this led to Tow Mater being knighted by the Queen, were you proud of your friend?"

Lightning's lips curled into a bright smile as he widened his eyes, remembering the day and the feeling of how proud he was for Mater, before that day he never fully understood the extent of Mater's maturity, he had only seen the childish side of him and never the more serious side. He was glad that he had a car like him as his best friend.

"Oh I definitely was, it was an amazing event that I'll never forget." He replied, waving his tire up into the air a little.

The interviewer looked back down at her notes, she was almost up to the main reason why Lightning McQueen was here, but first she had to ask a few more questions about something else.

"How are you and Sally?"

Lightning felts his eyes widen in slight surprise but remembered from what Harv said about her asking questions like this, so he shrugged it off and decided to keep most things about his relationship with Sally quiet. He knew that anyone who was there that morning at the cafe would know about Lightning and Sally's engagement, but he wanted them to figure it out on their own so that he doesn't have to tell so many cars, and without Sally. He didn't want all this to get to his head just for more attention.

"We are still on a steady relationship; I see it growing stronger everyday I'm with her." He ended with a dejected sigh.

She awed in response. "Sally must be very lucky to have someone as famous as you to have you as her boyfriend. Have you considered taking things to the next level?"

Lightning knew that telling just one car and in private wouldn't do much harm, but he decided to keep it a secret until the word spreads from Radiator Springs. "I have considered it, but haven't taken much thought into it, mainly because of all my off road training and practice during break. I still love her but we're both pretty busy. So I'm happy with the two of us to just remain as we are, there is no rush." He explained with a proud smile.

This made him realise for a moment that maybe Sally had a point with taking things slow, he knew that there was no rush in getting married and starting a family, but in recent times Lightning felt that their connection was diminishing because of all the time spent apart doing what they love.

"I see...well, personal questions aside, have you put any thoughts into why you came today?" She asked, turning away from him for a short moment towards the projector on the wall.

Lightning looked down in quick thought, knowing he had grown very curious from the moment that Mack told him about this interview. "I have been ever since I heard about this interview. I don't think it was because you were doing an autobiography on me." He jokingly said towards the end.

"No." She replied with a smile, before turning on a switch to turn on the projector. "It was because of this."

As the projector created a screen on the white wall in front of it, Lightning saw a list of racing results from the World Grand Prix, and who was named the winner for the World Grand Prix. His eyes gave almost his entire expression of shock when he saw who was in first place.

 **So...who's the winner? Lol I think it's pretty obvious who it is but I won't say who until the next chapter next week ;) Also, expect more development of Lightning and Sally's relationship over the next few Chapters. I'm trying to pace this story while at the same time I'm trying to move things along. I am also trying to balance this story out so I don't make it all about Lightning and Sally and include best friend parts and racing parts, I know Lightning is off season but you know...racing stuff still happens while off season (Hint Cars 2...)**

 **See you next week for the next Chapter! ^^**


	9. A Winner's True Trophy

**Merry Christmas! Well, technically Christmas is already over for me but I won't stop saying it now! ;) So, where we left off was with Lightning knowing who the winner is for the World Grand Prix, it's pretty obvious who it is, isn't it? *giggle* And with this Chapter I'll try to move the days along as I have been keeping the Chapters as a day by day in the actual story so I wanna move things along so the plot can move on and so I don't make this story as long as the other one I just finished (which is over 100,000 words in just 32 chapters).**

 **Now I haven't thought that far ahead yet to how many chapters this is going to have, but for the moment it hasn't reached 10 yet so I'm just going with the flow until I think that I should hurry things up or something.**

 **So enjoy Chapter 9 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 9 – A Winner's True Trophy**

It was him. Lightning McQueen was the winner of the World Grand Prix. Lightning reversed away slightly to take it all in. He couldn't believe it, it was then that he realised why Francesco was in here before he was, but he had to ask more of why Francesco was here before him.

"So was this why Francesco was in here earlier?"

Georgia nodded. "Yep, we had been asking him whether the winner should be declared him or you. But he agreed that you would be named the winner because of you and your friend's selfless act to help save the world from Allinoil."

Lightning was in awe; Francesco had given him the title as winner of the World Grand Prix after all that had happened. He thought Francesco would have taken all the glory to himself but instead gave it to Lightning. The race car began to realise the formula race car's words from a moment ago... _I am more like you than you think..._ Lightning thought he was referring to his relationship status with Sally, but being selfless and letting him take the win was something Lightning would do if he felt it would be right. Lightning had more in common with Francesco than he thought.

"What happens now?" Lightning asked.

Georgia turned to turn off the projector and moved back to her papers. She read them momentarily before responding.

"You are going to receive your trophy...today!" She announced with excitement.

Lightning almost jumped in shock, he was receiving his trophy for the World Grand Prix today! Today had just been an amazing day for Lightning, so much good was happening to him. Though he worried how long would it last. He was speechless towards the news that he would be receiving it so soon after he found out who the winner was.

It wasn't long later that they both moved outside and were greeted to fans and reporters who had already heard the news. This made Lightning feel suspicious for a moment that they had been listening to the interview, but then he saw Francesco.

"This was a private interview, right?" He asked, wanting assurance that the interview was private as planned.

Georgia nodded, and then raised an eye lid to Francesco before frowning. "He told them." She gestured.

Lightning drove over to Francesco who had just finished talking to a reporter when he was greeted to a shocked, yet slightly unamused Lightning.

"So, I know the news...and apparently so do everyone else." Lightning stated, looking over to his fans who were being barricaded by police cars.

Francesco raised his eyes and snuck in a gleaming grin. "You like? I thought surprising you with your adoring fans would give you more pride and satisfaction after Francesco selflessly gave the win to you." He gestured to the red car, smirking.

Lightning hummed for a moment before looking over at his fans. Francesco did have a point. It did surprise him and filled him with pride, but he was suspicious as to why everyone knew already just moments after he had found out himself.

"Well thanks for that, but I think just knowing that you gave the win to me would have been enough."

The Italian formula car scoffed in disbelief. "I did not want to wait till 7pm to see all your fans go crazy with excitement." He said, rolling his eyes.

He widened his eyes in surprise. "They were going to announce it tonight? Why couldn't you just wait?" he asked, before he was then interrupted by some fans and reporters.

"Sorry McQueen, but you need to talk to some cars." He winked before driving off, showing off his open wheels to the ladies before leaving.

It was then that Lightning was surrounded by many cars that demanded his attention, asking millions of questions about him being declared the winner for the World Grand Prix. He tried to answer some of the questions but with so many cars talking at once it made him difficult to reply. He also tried to quieten them down, but that didn't work either.

Eventually, security resumed blocking the fans as Harv pushed his way through the crowd, excusing any car he bumped into.

"McQueen, you're needed with me." He stated, before gesturing with his tire to the building on the other side of the complex.

Lightning nodded and followed, while smiling sheepishly to his fans as they screamed and shouted countless questions that from his distance all sounded like jumbled up words.

As he entered the building, he saw a few reporters as well as some race specialists who gave out the trophies and helped organised racing events. To his surprise he saw a few other race cars from the World Grand Prix, and some from the Piston cup that he knew. He was relieved that they didn't invite Chick Hicks to the event.

It seemed to Lightning that they all knew about him winning as well, or the fact that they were just asked to come down to see the winner. Lightning had known that the winner of the World Grand Prix was tied with him and Francesco, but he didn't expect that he would be claiming the trophy for it as the winner.

After having a brief chat with the other racers, it was time for them to formally announce the winner of the World Grand Prix to the world, even if most of them knew already, they had to make it official.

"Welcome back, we are now joined by our racing specialists down at the Los Angeles International Speedway where the long awaited winner of the World Grand Prix will be announced."

The screen panned to a fellow reporter who began to talk about the events of the World Grand Prix and how big a scam Allinoil was. He eventually led up to the winner announcement, which was just outside the building on a small podium, with the trophy standing tall on it, and with an empty space next to it.

"The winner of the World Grand Prix is Lightning McQueen!" A racing specialist announced.

As Lightning drove up onto the podium with the trophy, he heard the crowds cheer and as he looked down at the others he could see that they were smiling with pride, and were proud of what he had just accomplished, although it originally didn't seem much to Lightning, he adored the attention.

"Thank you all. I must say I am very grateful to be receiving this trophy today." Lightning said to the crowds, and the television cameras. "I have to thank all the fellow racers for doing as hard as they can to represent their country, I have to thank the racing specialists for making these races possible, and most of all I would like to thank my best friend Mater for realising that Allinoil was a huge scam." He ended, smiling at the camera and giving a wink, in case Mater was watching.

His Radiator Springs friends were indeed watching, Sally was too. She gleamed with pride as she saw her fiancé embrace in his new title as winner of the World Grand Prix. She was thinking of doing something to celebrate, but seeing how busy she was, and how today had been a great day for the two of them so far, she decided to wait until later that night to give him a present.

Lightning felt like the smile on his face would never leave, as he had some photos taken from the crowd with his trophy, he thought about when he would be going back home to see everyone's reactions. He wondered if he'll get any sort of gift, but shaking that aside he thought he had enough already. He had won four Piston Cups in a row, had now won the World Grand Prix, and was getting married to what he believed to be the most amazing car in the world.

He couldn't wait to see Sally especially; he was indeed looking forward to her reaction the most. He remembered that after he left, Sally went to get the hubcaps installed on her two rear tires. He smiled in thought, looking very much forward to seeing Sally in those hubcaps once he returned home.

Afterwards, crowds were cleared off all except for a few reporters and the others who were the racers and racing specialists as well as Lightning's agent Harv.

"Great job there pal, I'm looking forward to seeing where you will be placed in the next Piston Cup Race." He complimented, bumping his tire against Lightning's.

"Thanks, it makes me feel like I belong in the racing community." Lightning stated with a sigh, looking up at the sky.

Harv raised an eyelid in confusion. "But you've been racing for a few years now; did you need this trophy to make you feel like you belong?" Harv questioned him, confused to Lightning's statement.

"I meant that it makes me feel how important I am to this racing community. It makes me have a good impact and influence on others that may encourage them to do what I do." He explained with a smile.

His agent smiled in reply and drove off, leaving Lightning with his new trophy and Mack approaching.

"Hey buddy, I'm ready if you are." He said, gesturing over to the trailer.

Lightning nodded, bring his trophy with him as he reversed into his trailer and having the trophy placed on a stand which will always be seen when he's in the trailer.

"Let's go home." Lightning briefly said with a gleaming smile of excitement.

And with that, Mack drove off down the highway towards Radiator Springs.

A few hours later, Lightning had returned home and was greeted with his friends and his best friends congratulating him on the win. Lightning had shown them all the trophy and they all stared at it with smiles on their face as they saw how shiny and golden it was.

"I am so proud of you buddy, and thanks for the mention on me! You didn't have to do that you know..." Mater said with hesitation, shying away a little.

Lightning chuckled in disbelief. "Why wouldn't I mention you, Mater? You're the one who knew who was behind the Allinoil scam and stopped those lemons from becoming rich from oil, I simply tagged along, but I still do feel worthy of this trophy." He explained and assured Mater, gesturing to his trophy.

Mater sniffled in tears of happiness. "Thanks buddy; you're the best friend a tow truck could ask for."

After a few more congrats to him, Lightning looked around for Sally but after hearing from Flo that she was at work, he decided to wait until dinner time when she was free, which was a little less than an hour away.

Once it was dinner time, Lightning waited for Sally to arrive at Flo's. He had seen that several fans were there smiling excitingly at him and congratulating him on the win. Flo had given Lightning his favourite for dinner in celebration of the two special events that had occurred today. He felt so happy that almost nothing could take the happiness away, but it was slowly diminishing with every passing minute Sally didn't arrive.

Eventually however, Sally did arrive. The first thing that Lightning looked for on her was those new hubcaps. He saw them and flashed a shining smile to his fiancé before she parked next to him.

"I love the hubcaps Sally." He complimented, nuzzling her side.

Sally smiled, lowering her eyelids and nuzzling him back in response. "I love them, and congratulations on the win. I have a present for you but you'll have to wait until later for it." She ended with a wink.

A rush of excitement raced through Lightning, he wondered what it could be. He decided to wait until later to find out what it was. They both had their dinner and then drove home for the night.

It was then that Lightning was surprised with several kisses from Sally that he understood what his present was. The kissing continued until it turned into an unforgettable night.

The next day, Lightning woke up, stretching his tires and looking straight ahead to see that his trophy was placed in his house overnight, but then he heard the door close. He wanted to go and see who it was, but then felt the warmth of Sally nuzzling up to him, and the warmth was unbearable to make Lightning leave her side.

He loved last night, though not fully expecting it until the last minute; he was a little shock to how far they went but was glad they did. He wanted to wait but he realised that if you're in love it doesn't matter. He felt like yesterday's true celebration was coming home to an amazing gift from Sally.

It wasn't long later that Sally had woken up too, stretching her tires and seeing that Lightning was still by her side. She nuzzled his fender before greeting him for the new day.

"Morning handsome." She said with dreamy eyes, before she yawned loudly and turned to see the trophy. "Oh, so your trophy got delivered here."

Lightning smiled, not leaving her side. "Yes, but I know that you'll always be my trophy."

Sally adored him, she loved it when he found her to be the most important thing in her life, but it did worry her sometimes if he didn't care as much for anything else he did, but remembering his small speech from yesterday she could definitely tell that he was very happy with his racing career, and couldn't wait to start the next season.

Unfortunately he would be waiting at least another 6 months until he would have to go out of town to do official training with the other racers and prepare. But luckily he didn't mind also, he would love to jump back into racing to have something fun to do, but yet he enjoyed the company of his loved ones more than anything.

Sally felt like last night went a little too far ahead in how they initially wanted things to be, but being caught up in the moment and how much they loved each other, neither of them could help themselves. She loved last night, and yesterday was indeed a day she would never forget.

Not long later, the couple had gotten up and prepped for the day ahead of them, first they headed off to Flo's for their breakfast, only to see a television at the back of the cafe but in good sight from all the cars viewing it from their parking spots.

Lightning and Sally drove up, unaware of what was going on but both had the assumption that it had to do with yesterday's World Grand Prix results. But to their shock, it was actually something else, which caught Sally by surprise once she heard her name on the television.

"It has been reported from local fans from Radiator Springs that Lightning McQueen is engaged to a local attorney and hotel manager Sally Carrera." The reporter announced.

Everyone looked over at the couple with a smile, half of them knowing already that the two were engaged, applauded them with cheers and compliments as they went to have their breakfast.

"Congratulations you two, looks like you'll be the new famous engaged couple!" Flo exclaimed, giving them their breakfast as she smirked at them with a wink.

Lightning knew it wouldn't take long for the news to circle around, Sally should have seen it coming after their announcement from the day before, but grew wide eyed as she saw that someone had already taken a photo of her in her new hubcaps.

It was a joyous day that Lightning and Sally enjoyed more than anything; they felt so confident and couldn't wait to tackle whatever hit them next.

 **I was actually going to be more graphic with a certain scene but then I realised what rating I gave this story so I kept it to a minimum ;) So I'm not sure what's going to happen next (lol unintended pun) but I know that whatever it will be it'll move this story further along! ^^**

 **Also it'll be 2016 when I upload the next Chapter, so see you next year guys! :D**


	10. A Sudden Rush

**Happy New Year! 2016 is here! :D**

 **I really have to make sure I have these chapters planned out before I write them otherwise I could get really stressed out plus the chapter might be confusing for some of you because I'm writing it on the top of my head...And to be honest...I don't see this story being any longer than maybe 15 or so Chapters? I'm still in the not sure zone on that but I don't think it'll be too long. I know what to end it with; it's just the case of how long it's going to take me to get there.**

 **Actually, as I was writing the previous Chapter it got me into a serious Cars mood because of that particular slightly mature scene if some of you know where I'm getting at. I will get into more detail about that in later Chapters.**

 **Now, all this talking has given me ideas. So sit back and read on Chapter 10 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 10 – A Sudden Rush**

 _Two Weeks Later_

"Should I get a white coat or a silver one?" Sally asked to Flo.

The two were in Flo's house discussing how Sally would look for her wedding, even though she knew she was busy, she spared her lunch break with her gal pal to get some planning done, even if it had only been two weeks since he proposed.

"It's up to you honey, but to be honest I couldn't get a paint job for mine since Ramone was the only one I knew who could change my coat." She explained with a wink, indicating that Sally should know the rest of the story.

Sally chuckled, she was glad that things had changed since then, but also felt a little disappointed and rushed with how quickly things were changing around her life these days, some days it would make her head spin. She didn't even think the Wheel Well Motel would be restored; now it has a plasma screen TV in it for everyone to see.

"Okay, I guess I'll just decide on my own what looks best on me." She replied, looking out the window towards Ramone's paint and body art shop.

They continued to discuss other wedding plans but didn't set anything in stone, they chuckled in the fact of whether some of their humorous plans should be used just to see Lightning's reaction to it, however it did make Sally feel a little sorry for him. Flo assured her that things would work out all right in the end.

"I just don't know what's going to happen next..." She sighed, changing her mood as she thought about what Lightning had been talking to her on and off about.

Flo parked herself next to Sally with a smile of assurance. "Don't you be having any doubts about your relationship. I've seen how you two act around each other and it's just as strong as my marriage to Ramone, and you're not even married yet so I assure you that everything will turn out just fine."

Sally pouted and looked down at the ground in thought; she was worried how she was going to balance everything. "I don't know how everything is going to be okay if I'm so busy running two motels while he works all summer away from home..." She ended with a sigh.

"Well, you're doing a fine job now; I don't see you struggling much in the future. Now, I have to get back to work but I must assure you that you don't have to rush things."

After they both left Flo and Ramone's home, Flo went back to work at the cafe while Sally drove back up to Wheel Well while in thought what Flo just told her.

With what she had told Lightning just a couple of days before he proposed to her, she felt like Lightning was rushing their relationship too much. Sally began to think more in depth with how to go about this sudden proposal after assurance that things wouldn't be rushed.

Her expression changed to frustration and annoyance when she thought it was Lightning trying to make it all up in one full swing while he was off season. That wasn't what she wanted, on top of her two motels she had to run; it was too much of a rush to take in all at once.

She decided to have a long discussion with him later that day, but for the time being she thought of positive thing such as how her two motels were booming with customers and how quickly profits were going up to keep the two motels running.

It made her pleased as she arrived at the motel and had a check in with her hired staff before going to the front desk to manage things.

Meanwhile Lightning was helping out Mater with rounding up the tractors as he had accidentally let them escape again after tractor tipping them from the night before. The tractors had run wild overnight and had startled Sheriff in his sleep, which made Mater do some community service, Lightning offered to help since he was doing some tractor tipping with him, so Sheriff made the two of them round them up for the afternoon and then see him to give evidence that the job was done.

"Boy I love tractor tipping these fellas!" Mater exclaimed, chuckling as he used her tow cable as a whip for the tractors.

"I just find doing this a little less amusing, but whenever I'm around my buddy everything is amusing!" Lightning replied with exhilaration, loving that whenever he was around Mater he couldn't stop smiling and laughing at everything he would do.

There was a brief moment of nothing but tractor whipping and the sound of a race car engine trying to steer them in the right direction, until Mater decided to bring up relationships.

"So you know I haven't seen Holley in a while but we do talk every now and then through calling."

Lightning knew he would bring this up; it was one of Mater's favourite topics to talk about. He knew that Holley would always call him but he wondered why Mater wouldn't call to her for a change, he hadn't asked the question yet but now seemed like a good time.

"Why don't you call her? It seems to me that she's putting more effort into this relationship more than you...not that you're not putting a lot of effort in but it doesn't appear balanced...if you know what I mean." He tried to explain while trying to not offend Mater and make him feel bad.

The tow truck sighed as he blasted another whip at the tractors and Lightning managed to steer them all back into the field where they belonged, it was then that Mater answered.

"I understand what you mean...I just don't want to interrupt her because of all they spying work she does...I don't want to call her when she's in the middle of being undercover or something..."

Lightning nodded in reply, now understanding why he couldn't call her. "That's alright, she has an important job to do...and so does Sally." Then, Lightning chuckled in thought of the similarities in his and Mater's relationship with their girls. "You know...actually it's kind of weird that both our ladies have important jobs to do while the two of us slack off half the time."

Mater chuckled in joke to Lightning's realisation. "That's true, but you're just off season until summer time, right?" He asked, before wanting to talk more about his work in towing and salvaging.

"Mhm, but I do have to prep for the races about half a season earlier so I'm generally busy from mid April to around the end of September."

"Oh okay, and with what I do, I don't just slack off you know." He reminded, bumping Lightning's fender with his tire. "I tow cars and salvage for any car parts I find lying around." He explained proudly, raising his front tires to make him stand taller.

A chuckled in reply was Lightning's response. "I know, I just mean what we were doing just then with the tractors, that's all..."

The two drove back into town constantly bragging about how important each other's careers were plus if they were going to do tractor tipping again that night.

Lightning wanted to do tractor tipping again with Mater because of how fun and amusing it was, but he didn't really want to round them up the next day because of a cranky police car and because of an annoyed Frank almost turning them into haystacks.

"Thanks buddy but I think I'll pass; besides I think we want Sheriff to remain cool for a day or two."

Mater sighed, knowing that his buddy had a point. Although Mater enjoyed almost more than anything else to do tractor tipping, the least favourite part for him was getting told off by Sheriff and then getting punished for it. "You're right; I think we'll wait a day or two before we tip some more tractors over." Then, with a snicker in thought, Mater smirked at Lightning with overconfidence. "I bet I can beat your record of tipping many tractors at once." He said with a wink.

Lightning remembered when he tipped all of them at once and compared the sound of his engine to the sound of Mater's horn, he laughed at the thought of his horn being louder than his race car engine. "I don't think any horn can beat the sound of my engine!" He humoured his best friend, challenging him.

"We'll see about that buddy." Mater ended with a wink.

Later that night, Lightning was glad that he and Mater didn't go tractor tipping like Mater originally wanted to, because when dinner came around Sally asked to talk to him about their relationship afterwards and the serious expression on her face meant that it may be a long night.

So, when it was time to close up shop, Lightning drove home and waited for Sally as she went to Wheel Well Motel and the Cozy Cone Motel to shut them up for the night and ensure that all her customers had all they needed until she would be back the next day.

At 10pm, Lightning was beginning to feel sleepy. His eyes grew heavier and his yawns became more frequent, but he knew he had to stay up for Sally because from the sound of when she asked to discuss things later, it didn't sound like it was something that was only going to take a few sentences from one another and thing the conversation would be over.

Lucky for Lightning, as he yawned yet again, he heard Sally come through the door and call out to him. This made his body automatically not tired and wide awake to listen to everything that Sally had to say.

"Hey Sally, so what's bothering you?" He asked in a caring tone, giving the puppy dog eyes at her almost, which made her smile a little before her serious face returned.

"I think we're rushing ourselves with our relationship."

This took Lightning off guard for a moment, he had to process before he could respond, and as he thought about her words she looked at him with slight suspicion and concern. In some way she was right, but in ways she was wrong. He sighed as he realised why Sally had brought this up.

"You think we're rushing things because you're too busy and can't keep up?" He asked, thinking that's why Sally brought this up.

"Exactly, you don't give me warnings about sudden changes in our relationship. There are just these huge speed bumps you speed over. You know our relationship is nothing like your races." She explained, narrowing her eyelids at him.

Lightning felt shocked and appalled that Sally would think all of his life revolved around racing; it was only up until he ran into this town that all of his life revolved around racing, now his life was seriously complex. "Wait, I never said that. Our relationship and my racing career are separate. I never think of them as the same thing. And Sally, we've been dating for four years, what's the harm in getting engaged?"

Sally sighed in frustration as she paced around the room. "I just don't have the time to organise these sorts of things on top of my two jobs...plus I don't want you working on all of it to distract yourself from your racing, this whole engagement and wedding planning could throw you off your racing game when the next season comes around." She explained, taking Lightning's career into consideration as well.

"Yeah but...Sally, that's not for another five months. I'm sure we'll have some things worked out by then." He assured her, approaching to rub his fender against hers before she backed away suddenly.

"I know, but to me that's so little time to plan everything...I don't even know when you want to get married. I know you'll have time off season to but I'm always working..." She exclaimed, giving a sad sigh.

To Lightning it sounded like she had so little time on her tires that she didn't have time to do much else in her life. It made him wonder when was the last time she took a vacation from working at her two motels and let others run it, or close it for the day just to have some time to herself.

"Tell you what, how about you take some time off in between now and the next five months so we can do some planning together. And remember, it's not just me that wants to get married...right?" Lightning asked, suddenly feeling worried that he was the only one wanting to be married sometime in the near future.

Sally looked up at her fiancé, seeing the sudden worry and anxiety printed all over his expression. He was thinking that she didn't acknowledge and accept this whole marriage concept and was having doubts. "No, I didn't mean I don't want to get married...I really do. I just...don't know when would be a good time to get married. Having a wedding in less than five months to me feels a bit too rushed."

In his mind, he sighed in relief that she wasn't doubting their relationship, and it was only time that was getting in the way of what they both wanted.

"Don't worry; I didn't think you would be open to being married before my next season starts. We can always wait until afterwards, or the year after. I'm willing to wait, just don't keep me waiting too long." He ended with a wink and a small chuckle.

This made Sally giggle in response to Lightning's words. "Don't worry, I'll try and find time for us."

Lightning was about to drive up to the bedroom before he raised an eyelid in suggestion, which made Sally know exactly what Lightning was thinking about.

It wasn't long later; around an hour later that they were both tired enough to fall asleep by each other's side and sleep peacefully for the night.

The next day spoke too soon for the two of them. It was Tuesday so that meant it was very busy for Sally. She was surprised when she realised how late she slept in. It was after 8am when she saw the time and almost dashed away before even thinking to wake Lightning.

But with Sally's dashing around to prepare herself for the day was enough to make Lightning stretch out his tires and wake up to see what his fiancé was doing, before realising what the time was.

"I guess we shouldn't have had anything planned at the last minute last night." He joked, getting ready for the day himself.

"Sorry but I don't usually sleep in this late! I hope my other staff are doing okay without me." She said before checking her calendar, remembering that she had to do something important today.

Lightning chuckled, adoring Sally when she was in a rushed mood, but didn't want to interrupt her as she had things to do and so did he. He was going to help his friends around town and give a personal tour to some fans that haven't been to Radiator Springs more often than they should.

"Oh, I have to have my oil checked today. Hopefully that won't take too long..." She hoped, looking down before rushing over to Lightning. "Okay I'll see you at lunch time, don't get up to any mischief while I'm at work." She warned, remembering that he and Mater got up to no good the night before.

"I won't." Lightning replied in a higher pitched voice, making Sally giggle a little as she drove out the door.

So Sally went off to her oil check up while Lightning went over to Fillmore's for a change to see what kind of fuel he had brewing. He was going over to Flo's Cafe, but feeling still a little on the tired side he decided to go somewhere quieter, even if there were a few cars already at Fillmore's organic fuel place.

"Hey Fillmore, what's brewing today?" Lightning asked, approaching Fillmore and his brewery.

"Hey man, I haven't been brewing any new stuff lately because these customers just love the speed boost one. They say it's because of you." He replied in his hippy-like tone.

Lightning felt modest, but let out a small chuckle to his friend. "So I am hungry this morning. Could I just have the speed boost can?"

"Sure thing."

Around an hour later, Sally came out from her oil check with some very shocking news that she wasn't expecting at all. It was only meant to be a routine check up, but now it seemed like she didn't want to go back in there again.

 **So...what is it? I wasn't going to have this semi-reveal until the next Chapter but I see no harm in moving things along quicker, just so I don't drag this story out too long ;) It was kind of a filler chapter since I hadn't really planned this chapter until the last minute but I guess it'll do.**

 **I'll see you next week for Chapter 11! ^^**


	11. The Wrong Time

***Sigh* Sorry for the delay in uploading this next chapter, I'm actually away on holidays away from home at the moment and will be back home by the time I'll have to post Chapter 12 ^^ I've been in and out lately so I haven't had much time to focus on my FanFictions...if you're still seeing updates from the other FanFic I'm currently doing it's because I had already done a few Chapters before I went on my trip, no need to worry though I'm still focusing on both of these stories at once..Though I do feel kind of stupid when I said I'd work on one at time after that Danny Phantom one... *face palm***

 **Anyways, left the last chapter off with a bit of a cliff-hanger didn't I? Nice to see that some of you tried to guess why Sally never wanted to go for an oil check again. :) Let's see if this Chapter confirms your suspicions *giggle***

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 11 – The Wrong Time**

It was definitely an unexpected moment for Sally, and in that moment she felt completely unprepared and disorganised. She decided not to tell Lightning until later just so he could have a good day and not be shot down but the shocking news she had just received.

So Sally went to work for the rest of the day and avoided talking to Lightning, she knew that eventually she would have to talk to him and tell him, but she had to hold off the news for a little while until she felt ready to tell him.

She had not expected this sort of thing to happen so soon in their relationship, she had definitely wanted to wait for this to happen much later once their careers were sorted out so they would have time to themselves, but now she felt rushed than ever and stressed even more so.

It was an unexpected turn of events; she wasn't sure whether to even say anything to Lightning until it was noticeable, or if she could just talk to Flo about it later on. But, she knew that this was because of her and Lightning loving each other too much that it had to be carried on. Sally had no signs or warnings of this happening, and the smile on the mechanic's face after she told her the news was not pleasant to Sally in the least.

The first thought that came to mind when she heard the news was that how would this work on top of her running two motels and Lightning being away almost all summer plus time in fall and spring for racing practice? It was something she definitely had to discuss Lightning with, but the hardest part was going to be telling him the news.

She kept it on her mind for a majority of the afternoon, she wondered who should she tell first; Flo or Lightning? Her thoughts would be answered once she pulled into Flo's Cafe and the first thing Flo saw on her was deep worry and a loving glow around her. Sally worried that Lightning would show up any moment now.

With a whistle in excitement, Flo drove up to Sally without even serving the rest of her customers. "You missy definitely have something to tell me!" She exclaimed excitedly, but then lowering her voice to a whisper. "I'll finish up here and we can talk around the corner, okay honey?" She ended with a wink.

Sally hummed and nodded in reply as Flo gave her lunch and waited anxiously for Flo to finish up on work momentarily so that she could speak with Sally. The blue car looked around feeling extremely nervous around the other cars and worried if anyone could tell too other than Flo, because she seemed to know without Sally even saying anything to her.

Afterwards, Sally met up with Flo in front of Flo and Ramone's home. She was relieved to see that Lightning had not shown up yet, she thought that perhaps he took a nap in his trailer or was with Mater. Flo drove up to her with a gleaming smile of excitement which had shown no signs of doubt in her.

"I am so proud of you honey, I'm glad you get to have what Ramone and I couldn't do." She congratulated to Sally with pride.

Sally bit her lip and frowned, looking down in deep worry, but then registering what Flo just told her. "Wait, why couldn't you and Ramone have this?" She asked.

Flo looked down, hints of sadness in her expression as she remembered the day she found out. It turned her words to sadness. "Our make models were too different to manufacture a new one...and yes I know we do look quite similar but Ramone's an older model of a different kind that can't make what you have happen..." She ended with a sigh, but then a small smile realising Sally and Lightning will have what she and Ramone couldn't.

"But I am proud of you two." She said, before realising that they had only just gotten engaged not very long ago. "Wait, you two got engaged not long ago...was this planned...? I'm taking by that worried look you're giving me that it means no..?" Flo assumed, giving a concerned expression.

Sally sighed and bit her lower lip, think of how Lightning would respond to this and how they would both manage their careers around this mess. Sally called it a mess until things were organised, and as much as she didn't want one now, she couldn't get rid of it without telling Lightning about it first.

"No...And I should've known it would come to this...I should've known how to prevent it because this is just horrible timing!" She cried, squinting her eyes shut as tears emerged.

The old show girl car could see the hurt, panic and worry in her friend's eyes. She knew that it wasn't something Sally would be excited about, and only the timing made Sally's emotions erupt to extreme proportions. Time seemed to be the real enemy.

"Look, I may not have experience but I can understand what you're going through. Take your time with things and no need to worry, how long has it been?" Flo asked, needing to know all the facts.

Sally mumbled under her tears, it was difficult for Flo to make out but she had made out a number.

"Two...what, two days, two weeks?"

The Porsche looked up and remembered the events from earlier. Flashbacks came to mind and stung her body mentally as she remembered it in such great detail.

 _Hours Earlier..._

" _Miss Carrera, I have checked your oil and everything seems normal, except with a recent test of your levels...it seems that you have developed something in your oil."_

 _Sally looked up, raising an eyelid in worry and confusion. She grew curious and anxious as to what was going on with her oil. She had seen it as just a normal check up and expected nothing bad to happen but to just have a top up and leave for the day until she would have to go again in a few week's time._

" _What seems to be the problem? I've never had problems with my oil before...am I leaking..?" Sally asked, almost embarrassingly._

 _The Mechanic looked down, almost hesitant to ask Sally more, possibly because she knew of Sally's busy life. "There is no problem to say the least...but I understand that you and Lightning McQueen are engaged now?" She asked, raising a corner of her lip into a faint smile._

 _This was beginning to confuse Sally more and more, what did her oil check have to do with her relationship with Lightning. It hadn't clicked in yet, but the next thing the mechanic asked would cement it into Sally's mind._

" _Have you and Lightning been...?" She began to say, not saying the initial word in hopes that Sally understood._

 _And then it clicked, Sally quickly understood what the mechanic meant, she knew because of how she grew up in California and was surrounded by cars that said similar things to others right before they told them some big news._

 _She had been...twice in fact. One was two to three weeks ago while the other was the night prior. She had not experienced any signs of this happening and just assumed that her tiredness was because Lightning always distracted her from her busy lifestyle._

 _With a soft gasp in sudden realisation as her eyes widened, she responded. "Yes...we have."_

 _It was then that the mechanic's suspicions were correct; she had to tell her the news, but first had to ask another question just to double confirm._

" _How long ago?" She asked, giving a serious expression to the situation._

 _Sally began to sniffle as she realised where this was heading and didn't want it to go any further but she had no choice but to answer. "Last night and a couple of weeks ago..."_

 _The mechanic nodded and hummed in reply, turning back to her paperwork and had confirmed her suspicions completely. With a deep breath, she turned back to Sally and announced the news that Sally anxiously and did definitely not want to hear._

" _Congratulations, you and your fiancé are expecting. Now don't worry I will keep this strictly confidential and by looking at your make model and design, I'd say you would definitely have enough room for it." She assured her, looking at Sally's model on some old blueprints._

 _Nothing but tears and a deep sinking feeling was all that made Sally feel crushed within herself at that very moment, she could see her life collapsing before her very eyes. She had been put to the final test and this was a test that she was definitely not going to pass well in. She felt like it was all over, her careers...she couldn't work on them with this happening...and only getting worse as time went on._

 _But yet, her first vocal response to the announcement wasn't to get rid of it._

" _How long do I have to go?"_

 _A little shocked that Sally was not getting rid of it like she presumed due to her busy lifestyle, she went over to her paperwork once more to see what she had printed out as for how long Sally would have to go._

" _Well, judging by your model and Lightning's stock car model due to his racing career and so forth...around five and a half months...seeing that you're already two weeks in." She answered._

 _Sally left that oil check with all the necessary information she needed to confirm that something bug had to be done about it._

 _Back to the Present..._

"Around two weeks...and she said that it'll take just under six months." Sally answered, as she felt herself sink a little when she realised how little time she had to organise everything.

Then a though occurred to Flo, she realised that Sally had not yet gotten rid of it. She wondered if she was deciding to keep it or sort this out later, it made herself feel worried that with Sally and Lightning's busy careers that this may not end up happening.

"You are going to talk to Lightning about this...and don't wait either, remember that time is an important factor in all this." She reminded her, leaning in a little closer to Sally to show her support.

As much as that one word 'time' made her feel like she was being crushed by a huge amount of weight, she had to admit that Flo was right, even if she didn't have the experience for it, Sally could tell that she knew something about from all her years with Ramone and quite likely seeing it happen to others in all these years.

"I know...I just wish I knew better. Is there even prevention for this?" Sally asked.

Flo sighed, remembering that it all had to do with the make models between the cars and nothing else. "Sorry, but it's only if your make models are compatible or not. So the good news is that you and Lightning have compatible make models to be able to create a new one." Flo explained, smiling proudly at Sally before realising how stressed out Sally was becoming.

She sucked in her lips as she moped at the ground, wanting to start a family but not so soon, and only a couple weeks after they announced their engagement to the world. The only thing that made her smile in all this was that she and Lightning were able to create a new, and she was about to find out how lucky she was.

"And I don't think the mechanic told you but do you know how lucky it is to have compatible make models nowadays? With make models constantly changing it's almost impossible to have these events happen to so many cars these days. I am just very proud of you, and I will be with your every turn of the way. And I'm sure that once you tell Lightning he'll help you in any way possible." Flo assured Sally, nuzzling her side in support.

Then, more bad things clouded all the positivity Sally had left in her from this situation. She realised that with how strong her relationship was with Lightning that he would be willing to do almost anything to keep this relationship alive and to keep everything balanced between home and their careers.

She knew that Lighting would go to great lengths to do all that he could to support her in the situation...even as much as quitting his racing career to do so. He loved her more than anything else that he would be almost more than willing to give up racing just so Sally doesn't have to give up on her two motels that she was running.

Sally didn't know how to tell Lightning about everything, she didn't know what his initial reaction would be, she was so unprepared for this that she just wanted to wake up from this dream but it was all too real to be some sort of dream.

Later on, Sally went back to work as did Flo while Lightning had arrived shortly after Sally left to find that he was waiting for Sally all alone before Flo drove up to him and told him that he just missed her.

Flo was unsure whether to drop any hints towards the news, but knowing her strong and respectful friendship with Sally she kept it a secret, she would only say something if it felt necessary. So she told him that she had to leave for work and Lightning decided to pay her a small visit.

He first checked The Cozy Cone Motel as it was only across the road from the cafe, but saw that someone else was working in the front office, so this prompted Lightning to drive all the way up to Wheel Well, taking in the sights on his way there too.

At Wheel Well, he found her at the front desk managing another few bookings. To Sally she was glad that no one else had noticed the lack of enthusiasm and increase in worry in her, and to Lightning he was glad to see her since the morning.

"Hey Sally, work's keeping you busy?' Lightning asked in a caring tone, driving to Sally's side behind the desk.

Sally avoided eye contact with him, as to avoid saying anything here and now as it was most definitely one of the last places to tell him and especially at this time of day where everyone stayed until sunset before most of them parted ways, and sunset was another four hours away.

Lightning could see the reluctance of eye contact in her eyes, the resistance of looking at him was concerning him. After Sally had no more customers to deal with temporarily, she still wouldn't make any contact with him. Instead she hummed to herself to seem like she was okay.

But her fiancé could tell otherwise, he saw that something was not looking up to Sally during this time. He had learned that over the past few years of being together that he knew exactly when something was up, and yet Sally was only humming to herself to mask the deep and intense worry building up inside her every time he was near, almost reaching the boiling point when he spoke to her.

She couldn't respond in any way that resulted her in telling him the news. She needed some time to herself to think, but with all the work she had to do plus the lack of time she had alone after work with Lightning, she didn't know when to tell him everything, or even how to tell him.

It was a long afternoon, and eventually Lightning left her alone. She was relieved when he finally was out of sight, she assumed that he left because he was getting bored or for the fact that she looked too busy to even have a conversation with.

But as the day went on, Sally struggled to keep up with her other staff, the news from that morning had fully distracted her from her daily routine, so her staff suggested that she take a break. Sally didn't want to initially as they could suspect something was up with her but instead decided to use this time to her advantage and sort things out with herself.

Sally drove left of the Wheel Well instead of her usual right turn all the way back into town, she decided to find a nice secluded area where she could talk it all out with herself. She found vocalising her thoughts felt more engaging than silent thoughts in her head.

She found an old abandoned mine cave, she saw that it was stable and safe enough to go in, so she parked herself a little way's into the mine cave and began to release her emotional build onto herself.

Her cries echoed throughout the mine, if someone else was in the mines they would be sure to hear her. Sally felt so hurt and almost heartbroken by all that had happened, she almost had no room for happiness in this situation.

But yet, she didn't want to get rid of it. She wasn't that kind of car to do something like that, especially after Flo said it was very lucky for her and Lightning to be able to create a new. Ever since she heard the news, her mind was riddled with millions of thoughts, it was as if she were able to read other's minds around her all at once, but she could only hear it in her voice and they were all questions relating to how this was all going to work out in the end.

"How can I work all this out in such little time!?" She cried, feeling like she had no clue how to handle this situation.

 **Phew, all done for another week. And again I do apologise for the late delay...it's just that life wants to get in the way...and I don't mean that in a bad way it's just that for the past few days I've barely been home to write or draw anything to put on deviantart for that matter.**

 **So, do you like my theory on how cars are made? Well, it's not the whole theory as I said many cars can't create together like they used to. I'd like to think of the factories creating cars still being canon like John Lassiter said, however some cars have the special compatibility with certain models to make new cars. Hopefully that all made sense, if it didn't please don't hesitate to ask ^^**

 **See you next week (and on time) for Chapter 12! :D**


	12. The Positives

**You know, as I delve deeper into this story...I can't seem to write enough of it! XD But, I do stick to a limit so I don't go overboard. ;) So lately if you actually follow me (the author), you would be seeing that I am working on another Fanfic at the same time, some of you may know this already but I'm just saying it here so you're clear. I'm telling you guys because it's kinda difficult to do two fanfics at once...and how stupid of me to finish that DP one then start another...*facepalm* Oh well, I guess things come better in pairs..? *shrug***

 **Anyways, been trying to think of how to end this story lately...not that it's going to happen in the next chapter or two I assure you, it's just been something I'm thinking about and I was thinking about ending it the same way as my recently completed DP story but only time will tell. ;)**

 **So enjoy Chapter 12 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 12 – The Positives**

Sally cried to herself in the abandoned mines, having no idea what to do, and not even sure if she should tell Lightning or not. She knew she couldn't hold it in forever, soon will come the day of the new arrival plus the noticeable signs.

It was too much to take in with suck little time in between her engagement to Lightning and now to this. Unfortunately, expecting to be parents had a time limit and then it would be forever changed until that young car is able to live their own life on their own.

She wanted life changing events but didn't expect time to be her enemy against them. Sally was beginning to think that she cared more about her career more than anything else; she thought it must have been because of the years spent in Radiator Springs with little to no service whatsoever, and now after 4-5 years of booming service she couldn't get enough of it.

But hearing that news made everything crumple into millions of tiny shards in her eyes, piercing what Lightning had done to the town and now her life never being the same again. She was scared and unprepared for any of this.

Later that night, Lightning drove home without Sally but to see her crying herself to sleep all alone. This made Lightning go into panic and worry mode, rushing to her side and caressing her with his tire.

"What's wrong? Please tell me Sally, you've been acting strange all day."

Lightning had no idea that this ordinary day had turned into something that Sally will never forget and will forever be changed. He could see the pain through her tears, her whimpering and pressed lips made him drop inside with every aching second she did not tell him what was the matter.

She looked up at her fiancé, who looked caring but concerned as his lips parted to edge closer to her, nuzzling her to make her feel better. It somehow worked for a brief moment, but then she backed away and sobbed a little more, her whimpers more silent than before. Lightning could hear mutters of words from her mouth that were too difficult to understand underneath her emotional pain.

"What are you saying? Please, say something to me." He pleaded, with saddened eyes as he approached her from behind.

Sally sobbed more, unable to endure the pain that Lightning was suffering when she was like this, she felt as if it was a never ending cycle of sorrow and pain. Deep down her mind was telling her to tell him everything that happened, but at the same time her anxiety and honesty towards her career clouded it and prevented it from reaching the surface of her tongue, however, a dust particle was able to seep through the dark clouds of her mind.

"I can't tell you..." She whispered underneath her sobs, before turning towards Lightning and then realising the time. "We should get to sleep." She said, using it as an excuse to get out of this difficult situation.

Lightning wasn't clueless when it came to Sally trying to hide something, but being the new nice and respectful car he was, he let it go for the night, as he realised that stress could really mess up one's sleep.

That night, Sally had nightmares, enough to make her scream, but not enough for her to escape them. Lightning leaving her, the new car turning out to belong to someone else she barely knew, or worse...if the father was Chick Hicks. It made her want to speed away as fast as she could; she didn't want all of that to happen. It was all too painful for her to endure, even if she knew they were just her mind messing with her, the fear felt all too real in every single nightmare she had. She had no choice but to feel extremely terrified.

She woke up eventually with a silent gasp; she turned to see Lightning sleeping peacefully. Sally sighed in relief to finally be away from her nightmares, she drove away slowly and outside where she could grab some fresh air. She had briefly looked at the time previously and saw that it was only 3am. Working at this hour made her think of a great way to avoid those nightmares, and she wasn't sure how long she would have the nightmares for. She read on how nightmares always stay with you until you overcome them, and she had no idea how to overcome her strong fear towards a tiny car growing inside of her.

Staying up was her only option if she were to remain calm for the rest of the day that was coming, but her doubts made her feel heavy and tired, her thoughts trying to reason with her actions. She ignored them and drove into the Cozy Cone office to do some work to keep her mind off things.

However, when morning arose with the sun starting to glisten beyond the horizon, Sally felt a sickening feeling and rushed out, eventually vomiting out all of what she had yesterday in a bush, with a deep sigh of reassurance that the tiny car was doing fine, she began to feel increasingly hungry, so she drove over to Flo's and saw that Flo had only just opened up shop for the morning, and she wasn't surprised to see Sally here so early. With the unshaken and stiff expression on Sally, there was no doubt Flo knew why.

"You still haven't told him, have you?" She asked raising an eyelid as she prepared her cans for the day.

Sally sighed as she turned over to her home, seeing that Lightning had not yet noticed that she was not at his side anymore.

"It's just too hard for me to accept with my life...and I don't know what he'll do once he finds out...I don't want him giving up everything he loves just to stay with me and raise this car for another good 10-20 years of his life." She explained, feeling the tears returned.

Seeing Sally like this made her feel heavy and remorseful. She sighed as she drove over to her side to comfort her.

"Look, can you just for a moment think of the positives? I know there are many cons weighing you down, but please look at the bright side of things too." Flo stated, giving Sally a smile of care and support.

Remembering back to yesterday when she found out, the only expression she could feel after that was shock and devastation. She didn't know what to think, and still didn't know what to think about it or do anything about, or even tell anyone else about...especially her fiancé Lightning.

Now for thinking about positives...well she couldn't think of anything because her career as well as Lightning's career was all that clouded the positives and made her only feel worse. There were absolutely no positives that she could think of.

Except for maybe one..?

She was able to raise a family with Lightning, and that's something he truly wanted from her. Although she was afraid of how he would react, she would know that in some way he would be overjoyed that they were able to make it possible to create a family of their own. Lightning would be thrilled about it, Sally imagined him teaching their young car how to race just like him and even how to become a young racer just like he is.

A smile crept against her lips, and with a glance Flo saw the smile and nodded in relief. She was glad to see Sally thinking happy thoughts about it, but as she pulled away from her, Sally called out in a worried tone.

"Wait; are Lightning and I going to be able to do this on top of our careers? I don't want either of us quitting our jobs just to be with it." She cried with her eyes giving an extreme expression of anxiety.

Flo sighed, knowing that the positivity in Sally wouldn't last long on top of all the cons she knew about. However, compared to the cons, the pros despite the quantity have more meaning and outweigh the cons with their quality.

"You will have to work it out with him, he helped you create this. Don't make him an outcast in this situation. His role to this is just as important as yours." She reminded, driving away to serve some morning customers.

Frowning, Sally drove off and headed for the Cozy Cone, only to find Lightning racing out of their home to go looking for her, he was quickly relieved when he saw her going to work.

"Thank goodness you're alright. I thought something had happened to you." He cried, nuzzling against her side.

Sally backed away hesitantly, not wanting to say anything just yet and wanting to get to work. However this didn't stop from Lightning following her into the office with high suspicions and curiosity as to why she was ignoring him yet again. He was starting to grow frustrated, but would only show it if he couldn't tolerate her ignorance anymore.

She sucked her lips in, hoping that would prevent anything bad coming from her mouth, but what she didn't realise that it made it all too obvious to Lightning that she was hiding something from him.

"Look Sally, you need to tell me what's wrong. There is obviously something happening or something that happened that you're not telling me about." He explained, driving next to her side, seeing her lips tremble and her eyes close.

Seeing that there wasn't anyone else around except for the two of them made her more willing to tell him everything, but the time of day just made her hold back ever so slightly for a small few words to slip off her tongue, words in which held strong significance to her reason in ignorance and anxiety.

"Oil check-up...not right." Lightning was able to make out, causing him to raise an eyelid in confusion.

"I don't understand, did something happen at your check-up yesterday?" He asked, feeling relieved that he was getting somewhere but grew anxious and curious as that information was nowhere near satisfying enough to make him stop worrying about her.

Feeling her lips tremble and tears clouding her vision, unable for her to focus on her work anymore, only thoughts of the tiny car inside her and Lightning's reaction to the news filled her mind from one tight corner to the other. She wanted to tell him, but she thought of all the cons that would arise once she told him, he would be forever changed.

"I-I don't know if I should tell you or not..." She stuttered, looking away from Lightning in reluctance and guilt.

This only made Lightning's thoughts go wild as many possible horrible things came to mind and struck his expression with nothing but fear and anxiety for his fiancé, he rushed to her side, desperately asking her to calm down his burning curiosity and anxiety for her.

"Just tell me please!" He pleaded.

Seeing the desperateness and anxiety in his eyes and his words, she had no choice. There was no way to avoid this and there was no way to resolve this without telling him. Although she had only kept the secret from him for almost 24 hours, it felt like eternity that he didn't know about it.

With a few small but significantly important words, she told him exactly what he had to hear.

"I'm expecting..."

Silence and a speechless response in his expression was all that could be seen and heard within the office, he backed away slowly, his shocked expression remaining consistent until her shook himself to bring himself back to reality. He asked again to make sure, even if Sally's saddened mood and expression wasn't convincing enough for him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes..." Sally replied, while sniffling.

It was confirmed, he knew that Sally was only dedicated to him so there was no way it wasn't any one else's but his own. And then another wave of shock hit him as he realised just how rare this was. His eyes widened as he approached Sally, his mouth still hanging open as he examined her from top to bottom. It was no doubt that they were indeed compatible models to create a new car.

"I should've known..." Lightning began to say, in a more shocked and positive tone.

Sally didn't detect the hint of happiness within Lightning's words or tone; she began to cry even more as she saw the realisation on his face of how rare this event truly was to them. They both felt so lucky in that moment but at the same time so guilty of it.

"Sally..." He started to speak to her as he leaned in.

Sally looked up slightly, seeing Lightning's content yet still slightly shaken expression from the news she had just given him. She didn't know what to think in that very moment, she worried that Lightning would speed away from her and she would never see him again.

Then, she started to see a small smile creep onto Lightning's lips, her thoughts were now guessing a positive response from him, yet her doubts outweighed them and made her look down as she cried a little more. She wanted but at the same time didn't want to hear his response.

"This is the most wonderful news I have ever heard in my life." He said sweetly to her, catching her off guard as he nuzzled her fender.

It was unexpected at first as she knew it would be, but yet she was happier than she was stressed and worried about their future in that very moment. She nuzzled against his fender in return and then he turned to her to give her a passionate kiss on the lips.

With lips touching and strong feelings of want emerging, Sally pulled back, realising where the two of them were and for the fact that now he knew about it, but yet not much had changed. Sally had expected so much from him to change who he was just to be with her and the new car. This was never her intention, and she feared that Lightning would do it and give up everything just to be with his family.

The tears crept back to her eyes, Lightning saw them immediately and worry came to mind first.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

She turned away, pressing her lips firmly together as she sniffled with her eyes clenched shut in insecurity and anxiety. "I just don't want you giving up everything you love just to stay here." She cried.

Widened eyes of shock were immediately printed on Lightning, he thought about it for a moment and could see why she would think that, but he shook it off and smiled at her in assurance.

"But you are everything I love, racing is my passion, but you are above my passion for racing. You are the most important thing in my life. I wouldn't give up racing just to be with you, I love racing almost as much as I love you. I would only give it up if it felt like it was the only sensible thing to do."

Lightning's words struck deep into her, both emotionally and painfully. She didn't know what to think of his words as she tried to recollect her thoughts, while still facing away from him. He looked at her with deep concern as he did not hear a response.

"Sally?" He asked, after a long silent break between them.

She didn't respond, instead all Lightning could hear were small sobs. He wanted to help her, but knew that he had said all her could so he left her with the thoughts he had given her to think about.

It was all too much for her, and as many times as she said it to herself, she just couldn't adapt so quickly to situations as severely significant as one of these. As much as she wanted to get rid of it before, now hearing Lightning's words of excitement and happiness for the two of them made her deep inside form a special unbreakable bond between her and the developing car inside her. She couldn't help now but grow attached to it, even if she didn't know what it looked like.

A smile crept onto her face as she sniffled once more and her tears dried, she decided to think hard and logically about Lightning's words while she dealt with customers from both Motels throughout the day.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Sally had some time off before she would have to work at Wheel Well for most of the evening, so she decided to see Lightning and respond to his long and especially meaningful words to her. She smiled in thought and excitement of his reaction.

Flo was right from the beginning. It was much better to think about the positives rather than the negatives that came with raising a young car. The ride had only just begun, but there were going to be many pleasant turns ahead that led to the end of the ride with satisfaction and joy.

She found Lightning talking to Mack just a little outside of town, and by the looks of it they were talking about dirt roads as Lightning was performing several of his racing moves learnt from Doc on the dirt road.

"Lightning!" She called out, smiling brightly.

The red race car immediately turned, and so did the truck.

"Sally? Are you okay?" Lightning asked, knowing that she had come to him in response to his long speech earlier that morning.

She drove up to him, biting her lip in the process in nervousness of how she was going to tell him. She thought of no other way but to tell him straight forward.

"I'm keeping it."

 **Oh man, this Chapter was really hard to pull through at some points because I just kept on getting distracted by music and my parents...Hey fun fact about when I write these Chapters. I actually don't listen to any music whatsoever when writing these. It's so I can retain my focus on the story and not miss anything. ;)**

 **So that's another Chapter out of the way, I must say I am moving things along at a good pace, but I'm still thinking of a way of how I'll be ending this story...but don't worry! It's not the next Chapter or two I assure you! ^^**

 **See you next week for Chapter 13! :D**


	13. Needs of Assurance

**Sorry for the delay with this Chapter, I was going to upload it on Friday but I was busy working on fan-art plus my family wanted to play video games with me for 2-3 hours so yeah, and my motivational time peaks at the stupidest times... -.-**

 **Anyways, this story is moving along pretty well, but I have to admit I want to focus more on the other FanFic I'm working on at the moment, but that doesn't mean I'll stop working on this one I assure you. I want to have everyone happy so then that makes me happy ^^**

 **So, what's going to happen now? Well read on and enjoy Chapter 13! :D**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 13 – Needs of Assurance**

"Sally, you have no idea how happy you just made me. I am really glad you want to keep it." Lightning said with tears of happiness as he nuzzled her side.

Sally nodded, very sure that her answer was to keep it and she would work he way from there. She knew that it was going to be a long road ahead but she knew that Lightning would be there with her every turn of the way. She was glad to have met someone like him. She wanted to marry him as soon as possible.

Oh...the wedding.

Thousands of thoughts and doubts came raining down on Sally as the expression of worry was printed all over her. Now she wasn't sure when they were going to get married. She was at least glad that Lightning would be with her for a majority of the time, but then she remembered how long she would be like this. Tears developed in her eyelids as she realised he may not be there when the new car is due.

"What's wrong Sally? We'll discuss this somewhere more privately." Lightning assured her, as he directed her towards their home, leaving the cafe.

They were both glad they spoke in whispers most of the time so that no one else could hear what was going on. They didn't want to spread the word until they felt like they had to, but since they weren't married yet it was going to be very difficult to tell them without everyone thinking that they're giving a bad influence on everyone else.

The two of them wanted to be married before they could try to start a family, they knew how rare it was but even if they couldn't they would adopt one from the factory. Either way they wanted to start a family after they were married; now things had to be pushed along quicker for the both of them.

So not long later they were both in their home and now found it the perfect time to talk about why Sally seemed so down before after telling him she was going to keep it. Yet, Sally found it a little clueless of Lightning to not figure out why.

"So, you told me the great news that you were keeping it, so now why are you upset?" He asked with deep concern.

Sally bit her lip, looking down trembling. She was hoping that problems wouldn't shoot her at first glance, but unfortunately she could see all the problems clouding her happiness towards this new car that would be due in around 5 months.

"Look...I was just thinking about us getting married...when will that happen now...? And plus what about the press? Everyone else is going to find out someday, and I'm just worried about your image." She explained, not wanting her life with him to taint his career.

Lightning sighed in disbelief, knowing that Sally would never make him feel down about himself. She was all that he cared about, of all the things that were important to him, Sally was at the very top. When he saw her at first glance he knew he had to have her, she was the main reason why he never wanted to leave. Seeing her so saddened by his departure didn't make him feel any better. He remembered the tears in her eyes, and how she was the first one he truly trusted.

"I'm not worried about my image anymore, ever since I moved here; my image is the least of my concerns. I have no worries in that department." He assured her with a wink.

Sally looked up at Lightning and smiled a little; glad that he was less caring about his career than he was caring about her. She found it sweet that she was at the top of everything on his lists, but yet worried about how them getting married soon would be a better idea than waiting until after Lightning's next racing season, which will be long after the new little car is due.

"Well, I am glad you think that way. It's just...I didn't want to rush things to begin with." Sally cried, as she drove away from Lightning slightly, feeling the tears return.

"I know Sally, but I wasn't sure if we were even able to make a car, I'm very surprised and happy that we are able to. Look, the timing may be wrong but at least we know that we can." He assured her, feeling a little unsure about what he said would make her feel better.

Sally looked up, with an almost unamused look. "I know it's great to know, but that doesn't help with anything else."

He could see that he didn't say what she wanted to hear, and now he was beginning to realise how difficult all of this was going to be. He shook himself at the thought of it, not wanting to overwhelm himself so soon. When he saw the look on Sally, he was sure enough that she was already overwhelmed. But he understood perfectly why.

"We don't have to figure everything out tonight you know, and I know you like to keep things moving along and with the limited time we all have...I know I'm not saying what you want to hear, but I am just assuring you that we still have time to figure everything out. There's no need to get all worked up now about it."

Now those were the words Sally was waiting to hear, yet she was less expectant of him saying not to worry about everything right now as they still had time, yet she felt like 5 months wasn't much at all, even if it added up to almost half a year.

Sally smiled, glad of Lightning's words of assurance. Unfortunately she still frowned as she swam in her doubts and worries. "I don't know...I just don't feel ready for this; and on top of our careers too." She added, sighing.

Lightning could see that she needed much assurance from more than just him. He looked away for a moment in thought, he realised that all week Sally would be busy and not have much time to talk plans with him. Then, a light bulb idea switched on in his mind, he smiled brightly as he turned back to Sally.

"I have an idea, you and Flo go somewhere for a week and talk about it amongst yourselves?" He suggested, seeming very confident in the idea.

Sally raised an eyelid, and had to register first exactly what Lightning was saying. She almost laughed at the thought because he seemed so clueless as to how unlikely that was to happen.

"Lightning, I can't leave the motels for a week, plus Flo can't leave her cafe for a week either!" She exclaimed.

"I'll talk it over with Flo, and I'll take care of the two motels. Don't worry I've been with you long enough to pick up a few tricks." Lightning assured her with a wink.

She sighed, feeling nothing but worry of how everything was going to work. She just wanted to shut her eyes, open them again and everything would be as it should be and nothing like this at all...yet. Sally decided to take Lightning's idea into consideration; she knew Flo would give her all the right advice. But yet she remembered her saying that it wouldn't be her helping mainly, it would be the expecting parents planning it all. She didn't want to put pressure on Flo because her own life was in a complete mess right now.

"I don't know...I don't really want her sorting out our lives for us."

Lightning could see that she wasn't Seeing Eye to eye with his idea. It was more than just discussion on how to work everything out.

"No, it wasn't just that." He implied. "It's so you two get to have some time to relax and unwind, then you can sort things out with each other. I don't mind if she helps, and if she wants to then don't say no to her advice."

Looking down in hesitation for this whole idea, Sally pressed her lips together firmly in thought, worried if Lightning could manage the two motels without her, and she was still thinking about whether Flo could get time off for a week to spend with her.

Yet, Sally was really grateful to have someone like Lightning taking care of her every step of the way. He was definitely looking out for her, and why wouldn't he? During his down time from racing that was the only thing he felt, he felt the need to help his friends and the ones he cared about the most.

"I don't know if she could get time off that's all...plus I'm not sure if you could manage two motels all by yourself." She admitted worryingly, giving him a sad expression of doubt.

His immediate thoughts were that she worried way too much about everything except herself, it made him chuckle a little as he shook in slight amusement. "Look Sally, it's alright. You need some time to yourself. Worry about yourself for once and not everyone else. I'll be fine, I'll have Mater help me out too, and first thing tomorrow I'm going to talk to Flo about it."

Sally looked up with a smile, seeing how sure Lightning was of his idea. She decided to sleep on it, as she was far too stressed about everything now to worry. She knew he was right, but she couldn't help it. It was in her nature to worry about everyone else first before herself.

That night they both went to sleep peacefully, not talking anymore about their worries until the next day. When the next day arrived, Sally was first to wake up and drive over to Flo's, she was worried about what Lightning would say to her about the idea and perhaps describe how worried she was to Flo.

However, when Flo saw Sally, she didn't need any notification that Sally was worried to the point of screaming out her engine. Flo cackled a little in laughter as she approached her. "Now, I can see you're definitely worried. Did you talk to Lightning honey? How are you?" She asked in a more caring tone.

The blue car looked down, as she felt like throwing up again. It was a sign of her expecting; she quickly drove over to a bush and threw up the remainder of her dinner from the previous night before coming back moaning in pain.

"If you call worrying about everything that's going on your life and getting sick in the morning okay, then yes I'm fine." Sally replied bluntly, rolling her eyes.

Flo gave Sally an assuring smile, knowing that everything would work out in the end, and she knew Sally long enough to see how worried she was. Ever since Sally wanted to renew the town, she could see it in her eyes.

"Don't worry, things will eventually work themselves out, you just need to take one small speed bump at a time." She assured her.

Sally sighed; feeling like the same words had been repeated to her before by Lightning. She wondered if her away time would be better with Lightning than with Flo because they both cared for her very deeply, even if one of them was going to marry her someday.

"I'm just so worried about everything; I don't know what to do..." Sally said, beginning to feel tears return.

Flo thought for a moment, almost thinking the exact same idea as Lightning. "Maybe you just need to take a break for a couple of days to work things out?"

Almost chuckling with laughter at how similar Lightning and Flo's suggestions sounded so similar to each other, she felt a small smile creep onto her lips as she turned to Flo in slight surprise.

"You know what? Lightning had that exact idea, although he suggested a week, plus he wanted you to come with me." She admitted, drinking her breakfast.

Flo's eyes widened in surprise yet irony; she was glad that she and Lightning were thinking on the same page for her. She almost laughed in thought, but instead smiled at the thought of it.

"That is uncanny you know that? But yet, you should be glad that you have to close cars that care for you very much. And I'd be happy to come with you."

Sally didn't immediately register all of what Flo said to her. "I know, I was kind of expecting you to say something like-" And then she realised exactly what Flo said to her. "Wait what?" She asked, turning to Flo slightly with her eyes widened, worried that she may have just heard wrong.

"I'll be happy to go with you, you can work out the dates and I'll schedule for that week to spend with you." She stated with a smile of assurance and confidence.

She did not expect Flo to be free so that she could spend a whole week away from work just to spend with her. Sally was expecting her to reluctantly back out because she was so busy running her cafe. She was starting to think that maybe she should focus less on keeping her two motels running and know more about her own friends. She thought because of how dedicated Flo was to her cafe and how much time she spent there working, she'd think that Flo would be more willing to keep working there.

Yet the smile that crept along her lips said otherwise, she was really glad that Flo would be able to spend a week away with her. It was Lightning now that she was worried about, and then Lightning showed up to the cafe. He was not surprised at all to see Sally beating him to talk to Flo about staying away for a week.

"Morning ladies, it looks like you bet me to it." Lightning stated, turning his focus more to Sally towards the end of his sentence.

"And for a race car, that's impressive." Flo added, chuckling with laughter.

Lightning cleared his throat to take the amusement out of the conversation. "So Sally, I see you've already talked to Flo about everything?"

Sally nodded and hummed in reply, they both turned to Flo who began to explain her side of the plans.

"I am willing to take any week off away with Sally for a week, just pick the dates and let me know." She explained with a wink, before driving off, knowing that it would take them a little time to sort out dates.

So afterwards, Lightning stayed for breakfast while Sally decided to find out some days that she could take off from work. She drove up to Wheel Well first, and then later that afternoon she would go to the Cozy Cone and try to work out the dates there.

Meanwhile Lightning talked more about his and Sally's marriage situation quietly with Flo.

"She's just worried about everything right now. And I understand because you know...with getting married and all." Lightning explained in a whisper tone to Flo.

Flo sighed, seeing that he was worried too, but not to the same extent that Sally was at which was a relief for her, she could definitely tell that they both needed time away from work to sort things out, and even some time away from each other and hanging around friends would also help.

"I know, but don't you worry about everything right now. During my time away with her we'll make phone calls if we decide to set anything in stone." She assured him, before driving off to serve more morning customers.

Lightning looked down in worry, he finished his breakfast then went out to find Mater, but saw that he was out towing. He was glad that Mater put a sign up saying that he was out towing, and just a moment after Lightning left to drive to his place he heard his name being called by a familiar voice.

"Hey McQueen!" Mater called.

The race car turned as he smiled brightened, he could see Mater approaching with a friendly lemon car in tow yet again. He grinned widely as he stopped to wave one of his tires at his best friend.

"Hey, I'll be with ya in a minute, I just have to stop Otis down at Ramone's first."

That's who he should talk to, Lightning thought as Mater drove past. He knew that although he didn't mind talking with Flo, he would feel more comfortable talking to Ramone since they were both guys and Ramone had experience. Lightning just hoped that Ramone could spare a minute or two to talk to him.

But, in the meantime, Lightning stayed where he was in front of Mater's place and waited for Mater to return.

He was hoping to just have some fun times with Mater and perhaps ask him for advice, but now that he really thought about it, he wasn't sure what kind of advice Mater would give him, seeing that he had only started a relationship with Holley not long ago.

After a few minutes, Lightning looked out towards the morning traffic to see Mater, thinking that he would be back by now. But then, he saw his best friend driving backwards towards him. Lightning chuckled in laughter as he watched his best friend in amusement approach him with his signature driving move.

Lightning waved to him, and Mater saw through his rear view mirror and waved back. He quickly jumped around and faced Lightning with a gleaming smile. "So, how are ya this morning buddy?" He asked in his cheerful tone.

"Oh nothing much, really. It's just that...I think I might need your help with something." He said almost nervously.

Mater raised his eyelids in surprise, since the World Grand Prix Lightning had been surprising him left and right. He wondered what could be happening now in Lightning's life, but he could see by the worried and sudden sadness in the race car's expression that it wasn't help with something good.

Lightning hoped that Mater would be able to keep his word on this, he trusted Mater. And he wanted to tell someone else about it, and he knew he would be talking about it later with Ramone too, but he wanted to see if Mater could help in any way that he could.

 **I seriously had to budge this Chapter out of me; it was so difficult to write when I really want to work on something else. But, the things that keep me from stopping this story are you guys and that I hate to leave anything unfinished. So I assure you that I won't stop writing this simply because I don't want to ;)**

 **Next Chapter should hopefully be uploaded on time next week but I can't guarantee that. And I am starting to see a way as to how to end this story. But no need to worry, the ending is not near yet ^^**

 **See you all next week for Chapter 14! :D**


	14. Time Away

**I am seriously losing interest in this story somebody help me... Look, it's not that I don't like this story, I really do. It's just that I'd rather focus on other things right now...*sigh* But, I'll try my best to make a good chapter for you guys. :D**

 **So, I am starting to think of an ending to this story but I'm not sure how to get there. Like, I can see the big ending and all but I can't see the in between so this story may be longer than I thought, or it's going to be cut way short. Either way I don't want those to happen, I just want this to end on a nice smooth note :)**

 **Anyways, better get on with the Chapter. Hopefully I can budge one out for you guys. Enjoy Chapter 14 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 14 – Time Away**

Lightning lowered down a little in slight nervousness, hoping that Mater would be able to help in some way. But now he wasn't sure what to ask Mater, he wasn't sure if Mater knew anything about becoming a parent. He decided to tell him subtly, not giving away the obvious because he knew how bad Mater was at keeping secrets sometimes, and especially if they were this huge.

"So, I was wondering...since Sally and Flo are leaving to work out some stuff happening in our relationship for a week, I was hoping you'd help me out and perhaps in return we can go tractor tipping." He ended jokingly, bumping the tow truck with his tire playfully.

Mater widened his eyes in excitement; he gasped and was about to respond when he registered the rest of what Lightning said. "Wait, what's going on in your relationship with Miss Sally?"

"Oh...nothing just a little something that Sally has going on, she wants to work everything out before it gets any worse." He answered, referring to the tiny car inside Sally but not mentioning so.

The tow truck nodded in reply, and then resumed his excitement that he was going to be spending more time with his best friend. "Oh buddy we are going to have the best fun ever!"

Lightning chuckled, glad to see that his best friend was willing to help him while Sally and Flo were out of town. He hoped that this one week with the girls away could help him figure out what he could do on his part. Lightning wanted to be a parent now more than ever but respected that Sally wanted to wait, this was all unexpected for him. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next when the two came back home.

He sincerely hoped they come back with an organised solution to everything. Lightning figured time away from everything was a great idea; however he would have less time to think also now that he had to look after the two motels while Sally was gone.

So Lightning thanked Mater for helping him out and then he drove off back down the main road towards the main intersection, he heard Mater in the background excited that he was going to be spending more time with his best pal. Lightning was glad too, but now his primary focus was to talk to Ramone. He hoped he had a spare moment just to give him a little relationship advice.

He drove into the House of Body art to see Ramone with Otis. So he waited out the front until he could talk for a moment with Ramone. In the meantime he thought about exactly what he was going to ask Ramone advice for, he knew it was going to be advice on his and Sally's relationship, but he had to guide his way into a certain aspect of their relationship that he and Ramone could discuss.

Not long later, Otis drove out calling a thank you to Ramone with the sleek low car following not very far behind. He waved goodbye to the friendly lemon with his tire before he turned to see a fellow race car waiting for him.

"Oh, hey Lightning. I don't usually get to see you around my shop. Did you want a new paint job? On the house." He offered with a wink as he guided Lightning inside.

Lightning chuckled, knowing Ramone's laid back attitude so well. "Um, actually I wanted to ask you something."

Ramone turned around, raising an eyelid in slight confusion, wondering why Lightning came to see him in the first place.

Lightning rubbed his tire nervously against the ground, biting his lip before he started to explain everything.

"Okay look, I'll take this one turn at a time...you're obviously aware that Sally and I are engaged and are going to get married soon?" Lightning reminded, leaning in a little to Ramone.

Ramone looked down in thought, he chuckled a little in doubt that he didn't know about the engagement. "Of course I do, man! But remember; take it slow...no need to rush into things." He advised with a wink, before driving off to fix up some paint cans.

The race car nodded before a deeply worried expression crept along his face, Ramone could see this through the reflection of the window, and he quickly turned around in concern, worried about why what he just told him could make him feel so down.

"What's wrong?"

Lightning sighed as he thought of Ramone's advice. He wanted to take it slow but now since the two of them were expecting it was too difficult not to rush everything. They both wanted to be married before they would start a family. He lowered himself further as Ramone parked next to him in worry that what he said really hurt him.

"I'm sorry if my words offended you..." Ramone began to say.

"No no...You didn't." Lightning reassured. "It's just that..." He held back his tongue. "Sally and I...are expecting."

Ramone's reaction was exactly the same as Flo's. Nothing but excitement and joy were printed all over his face, he was extremely happy for Lightning. He knew how rare it was for these sorts of things to happen in between two cars, and now he started to envy Lightning.

"Wow! I didn't think cars were still able to do that! Congrats man!" He congratulated, bumping Lightning on the side with a wide smile.

He waited for Lightning to respond; however Lightning's worried expression never changed after that. Ramone's expression turned from happiness to worry. He wondered why Lightning would be so down about this, but without even asking why he suddenly realised why.

"Oh...sorry. Now I know why you came to me for advice." He stated.

Lightning looked up at Ramone who had an expression of seriousness and concern. "Can you help me fix this?"

The low car looked down in thought; he hummed loudly as he tried to think of what kind of advice to give to a much younger car than him. Unfortunately he never went through this exact problem with Flo because their models weren't compatible with each other. He sighed in thought of the day they found out, but he still loved Flo regardless of that fact, so he brightened up with a smile of courage as he drove a little closer to Lightning.

"McQueen, I may have not been through this. But I might just be able to help you." He assured him with a wink.

Lightning lifted up a little, starting to feel better. "You think so?" He asked.

Ramone nodded. "Marriage does seem like hard work, and it is, trust me." He ended with a wink. "But bringing up a family is what solidifies the bond between two cars. You, Sally and this new car will have an unbreakable bond like no other." He explained, looking out the window as he explained so.

The race car felt lightened by Ramone's words, he didn't realise Ramone could be so wise and insightful with these sorts of things, when he knew that Ramone and Flo never dealt with a situation like this before. He just wished happiness could overflow him, but now as he spoke more to Ramone he was starting to feel better.

He knew where the unhappiness and worry came from, but he didn't want this situation to be the core of their problems and forever be a permanent stain on his and Sally's relationship. All Lightning wanted was a nice healthy marriage and a family with Sally.

"You really think so? I know you're not speaking from experience but it's great that you can help me with this situation." Lightning replied with an assuring smile.

Ramone nodded with a smile, glad that his advice was having a positive effect on Lightning. "I don't speak from experience, but I know this because I have seen it in other cars over the years I've been here." He started to say. "Many other cars around your age already had families, back then there were way more compatible cars so factories weren't making a lot of cars like they are today. I could see that compared with the adopted cars that the bond was stronger when the parents were able to create a new."

Lightning took in every word he said, slowly understanding how important the bond was between him and Sally.

Ramone continued his little story and explanation on the importance of bonding. "Married couples had that bond too, but it was only made stronger when they had a little car to share it with. Seeing yourself in a younger car is the best thing anyone could ask for. I assure you, the moment you see that little car you will forever hold a special bond. And I remind you that you and Sally are unbreakable, much like Flo and I." He further explained, complimenting his relationship with Sally.

The race car turned to Ramone with a calm and lightened smile. "Thanks Ramone, I really appreciate advice. I'll never forget it." He assured him as he drove out of the shop.

"No problem man, come to me anytime if you still need advice." Ramone called out before resuming his other things.

Lightning drove around town in deep thought about Ramone's words. He analysed a few couples he saw and one with a family. He compared them together and could tell by how they all shared that same happy and caring look that they had a tight and unbreakable bond. It made Lightning feel more relaxed about becoming a parent, yet he was still worried about marriage.

But it didn't concern him as much as it concerned Sally. Later that day, Flo spoke with her about dates in which they could leave work to spend time out of town. Sally didn't know what dates to choose as she looked at the calendar displayed in front of her, all her days were just too busy, but from Flo's perspective Sally was over thinking all the possible days she could take off.

"Look honey, if you want to figure this out you've got to take some time away from work. Running two motels up until you're due aren't going to solve anything." Flo reminded her in a serious tone.

Sally sighed, knowing that Flo was indeed right, but Sally couldn't help but over think things. She wanted everyone to be happy before she was, and right now she couldn't find any days off that would make her staff happy, yet she hadn't asked her staff yet about their availability.

"I know, but what about the other staff? And Lightning? Will they be able to work without me?" She asked, fretting over every little thing.

Flo shook her hood in doubt, seeing that knocking a week off Sally's calendar was no easy task to handle. "Just take a week off from everything and when we come back you can get straight into it. Believe me, you need this time away from home more than I do." Flo admitted, seeing the fragile and stressful state Sally was in.

She knew Flo was right, she nodded as she slowly admitted to herself that she was over thinking everything and needed time off more than anyone else who worked around town. So Sally picked the week before the end of the month to take off from work.

"I'll take off two weeks from now." She stated firmly, not backing out on her decision.

Flo thought about those dates in her head, they were going to be away from the 23rd to the 30th of that month. She smiled and nodded in assurance.

"Those days should be good for me." She assured before chuckling a little. "But to be honest, I can take off time whenever I wanted, just as long as I didn't do it too often." She ended with a smirk and a wink.

The two girls had their dates planned out, they would leave in two weeks time to drive around the country and perhaps stop at a motel or two and work some things out together. The more Sally thought about it, the more excited she was about going. She couldn't wait to go on this trip, it was finally a chance for her to break free and settle things on a calm and free note.

So for the next two weeks, she and Lightning decided not to talk much about the expecting car and what to do with their marriage. The subjects were only raised when Sally had exhibited more of the symptoms a female car would receive when she was expecting. For most of the time Lightning was there to comfort her. Sally didn't like it in the least.

"Sally, I know it's hard for you, and I wish I could do more. But just remember that what you're carrying strengthens the bond we have with each other." he assured her, kissing the corner of her lips.

"Thanks Lightning, you're sweet when you say that. I just hope I can hold up for another four to five months...it's going to be a long ride isn't it?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Lightning nodded in response, but then nuzzled her side in assurance. "Don't worry, I'll be here every turn of the way and so will everyone else. There isn't a friend in town that can't support you."

Sally admired Lightning's words; he had truly matured since she first met him in court that day. It was such a huge change that only now was she starting to see in him, it shocked her a little. She still remembered him being immature, selfish and having a one track mind. Now, Lightning had grown up and matured so well she was seeing what he had been neglecting all these years for as long as she known him for, he could've been neglecting this side of himself long before he met her.

"I'm glad to have seen you matured since you found this place." Sally said, admiring Lightning's words as she nuzzled his side.

Lightning turned and gave Sally a passionate kiss, giving further proof that their bond was forever unbreakable. Seeing that this unexpected turn of events will eventually be seen from the positive side, for now the negative side had been ignored, but it was constantly on the pair's mind every day and night.

As the days went on and the date in which Sally and Flo would leave had drawn nearer and nearer, Sally was already seeing her progress as unbearable, but her friends encouraged her. They knew that she would make her way through this, despite the fact that none of her friends had experienced this for themselves before.

Sally worried of her symptoms; she had never really brushed up on them before and never did when she was younger because she was told it was so rare that it was unlikely to happen to her. But now here she was, already three weeks along and the only symptoms she was having so far were tiredness, vomiting and oil leaks.

However, she was glad to have everyone by her side to encourage her and make her feel better about herself. She was able to bear it while she worked at the Cozy Cone and Wheel Well motels in the meantime. Meanwhile Lightning had been checking in with Sally not just to see how she was doing but to pick up some insight in what he had to do while she was away.

And then, that day arrived. Sally and Lightning woke up from their long pleasant night of reassurance that things were going to turn out alright in the end. Sally had everything prepared for the trip. Lightning followed her outside towards Flo's cafe where they would be both filled up and ready to go for the long ride out of town.

The couple approached the cafe and saw that all their friends were there greeting them. Most of them knew already exactly what was going on between Lightning and Sally, no one had told Mater yet in worry that he could accidentally reveal it to some of the local visitors.

"Morning you two, looking ready to go I see." Sheriff stated with a smile as he looked at the two of them.

"Ready to get to work and she's ready to get on the road." Lightning replied, looking at the police car with a confident smile.

The two of them approached Flo who saved a gas pump for Sally, she fueled up and within a matter of minutes, Lightning had kissed Sally goodbye, Ramone and Flo done the same, and then the two girls were on the road cruising down the highway.

Sally couldn't wait to relax away from home; she would miss it, especially Lightning. But she was looking forward to not having to worry about work for a whole week and spend time with her best friend Flo.

 **Okay, I do apologise for this being a little bit shorter than usual. It just felt good to end it there. So the next Chapter will be pretty much about Sally and Flo's week away from home and work. I did want to write more but I left this chapter so late in the day and I'm forcing myself to continue writing this so I don't completely abandon it like some other writers do.**

 **So I'll see you all next week for Chapter 15. Hopefully I can gain more motivation by then so I can budge out a more decent Chapter. ^^**


	15. Things Looking Up

**So I think I'm in a more motivational mood, hopefully I can really focus on this story and make sure that I actually don't have to force the chapters out of me every Friday just because I like to stick to a schedule. To be honest, as I am writing this I am actually in the mood to write/read some romance... ^^ I think I'll definitely be able to budge a chapter out while I'm in this mood :D**

 **I have been thinking about moving things along with this story because I kind of want to get it out of the way so I can work on my other FanFic that I'm currently working on. I remember making this story a few months ago and at the time I was super excited, now it's more force motivation to get it over with.**

 **We'll see how I go anyway. Enjoy the Chapter! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 15 – Things Looking Up**

Flo and Sally drove at a cruising speed down route 66 and then onto the highway where they would drive into the interstate. Neither of them was really sure where they were going but decided to let the roads guide the way to their relaxation.

While on this drive, Flo couldn't help but ask questions in regarding the growing car inside Sally. She couldn't help but grow curious due to lack of experience of what Sally was going through. Flo understood that the timing in Lightning's and Sally's lives wasn't perfect, but it was amazing to think that her closest female friend was able to do what she was never able to do with Ramone.

Sally knew that Flo meant well, but feeling under intense amount of stress just from this beginning to exist and take over her life overwhelmed her, making her feel like her two careers were going to vanish. She feared more so for Lightning, she knew Lightning meant well too and that he loves her more than anything else, but she worried herself that Lightning would give up on racing just to raise a family. She didn't want that, even though Lightning promised that he would only give up his career if it was really necessary.

"Sally, I only want to know how you are feeling right now. Can you feel it inside you?" Flo asked, driving alongside her.

Looking away and pressing her lips together as she tried to avoid the negativity this new creation was radiating, Sally tried to see if she could feel anything. It was a little early to tell since she still had a good 4-5 months left until it was time and then everything would have to be cemented in place, but yet something inside her felt a little different, it was almost as if a hole had been buried slightly, it made her feel a little whole inside.

"To be honest...I do feel a little different than I usually am. There's this small feeling inside of me like a gap has been filled." She informed, looking down in wonder as she thought about the development of this new car.

Flo was in awe from Sally's words, she envied her very much. Flo sincerely wished she could have experienced this with Ramone, but she still loved him nonetheless, regardless of the fact they couldn't create new cars. Loving each other was all that Ramone and Flo needed to be happy.

"Adorable, you just have to keep thinking positive about this, and I assure you things will definitely work out for you two." She ended with a wink, before gasping quickly and shooting a smirk at Sally. "I mean three." She added.

Chuckling slightly, Sally thought about Flo's words and addition to including the still in development car inside her. She knew it was something that she would definitely have to start getting used to, and that was when Sally started to think like a true expectant car would be.

"I should think of names for it too, maybe we can do that while we're on this trip?" Sally suggested with a gleaming smile.

Smiling in reply, and nuzzling her best friend slightly, Flo nodded and assured her that everything would work out just as they crossed onto the main interstate road and on their way to wherever the road took them. Flo was glad that Sally was starting to think like a true expectant car should be, and was glad to see her smiling about something that she found to tear her life apart, yet she still kept it because she was that kind of car.

After a long way's drive, they decided to make a pit stop at a on the run motel. The pair had been driving for almost two hours and they could both use a good break. So they checked in at the motel and rested their tires for a good half hour, while discussing names, aside from the fact that it was too early still, it was exciting for the two of them to think about.

Midway through chuckling about the names Sally had though up of, Flo realised that this car could be either a boy or a girl, and she was only thinking of boy names, most likely because Sally assumed that with Lightning's personality and the likelihood of them having a girl would be very slim. She wasn't thinking outside of just one gender, she understood why but Sally had to understand that sometimes the most unlikely of things can happen.

"Honey, you've got to stop thinking up boy names and think of girl's names too you know? You've got to consider the possible outcome of having a girl." She lectured in a caring tone.

Sighing, Sally looked down in thought. "I know, I just don't see a girl happening that's all." She ended with a shrug of her tires.

Raising an eyelid in thought of the likelihood of this entire situation happening that was plagued with irony, Flo smirked. "Really, and how about this whole situation happening? Did you think this would happen?" She teased.

Sarcastically laughing in response as Sally lowered her eyelids; she turned to the window of the small room. "Very funny." Looking out the window and towards the busy road they were on a while ago, made her sigh in thought of being away from home. "I just hope Lightning's okay." She worried, biting her lower lip.

Flo drove by her side, lowering her eyelids similarly to how Sally's were now, expressing a similar emotion but with a more caring vibe than saddened and worried. "Look, I'm sure he can work things out too. To be completely honest with you, he seems more together about this than you." Flo admitted, nodding.

Glaring at Flo slightly before recollecting her thoughts in realisation of how correct Flo was, she sighed again as she looked down and thought about the future, seeing a more positive outlook which made her smile and develop small tears in her eyes. "I really do hope things work out. I know the timing isn't right, but when would it be?" She asked herself, driving away from the window, looking up towards the ceiling in thought.

Sally thought deeply about that moment she and Lightning shared a little over a month ago suggesting this sort of thing ever happening to them. She remembered clearly that she wanted to wait, but she didn't anticipate on happening right away after that. She expected it not to work at first and then the two would realise that they wouldn't be able to create a new car and have to adopt, which would still be as loving but wouldn't be exactly the same.

She wanted this, and so did Lightning. The blue Porsche felt nowhere near ready, their house wasn't fit for a new car whizzing around the place, and there were things around town that could be dangerous to it. Then her thoughts moved to when Lightning proposed to her, she was relieved that he didn't ask while this situation was occurring otherwise she would've had second thoughts and would only be assuming that Lightning wanted to marry her because of this.

But she knew that he would never do that regardless, he would only feel more obliged to propose because of the strong responsibilities and commitments that were quickly coming their way. Lightning loved Sally regardless of whether she was expecting or not. It was one of the many things that Sally adored about her fiancé; it made her smile with a dreamy expression printed across her face.

Then, Sally was broken out of her dreamy trance by Flo's words; however Sally wasn't annoyed in the least about it.

"I'd say there would never be a perfect time for it. You should just ignore the timing and focus on everything else that is going on. I can already see you and Lightning with that new car happily enjoying life together and still with your careers...the both of you." Flo added in the end, assuring Sally that what she could see was very likely to happen.

Although Sally admired Flo's honesty and assumptions of the future, Sally couldn't help but over think her commitment to the two motels, not to mention that she was the towns attorney as well, she had too much to work on, even though her attorney career had died down a while ago and the town had been very peaceful since then.

She loved Lightning more than anything, yet she loved her careers more than this tiny little car growing inside of her, she hadn't grown fully accustomed to it yet and wasn't sure when she would be able to remain truly happy with the fact that hers and Lightning's love and life was going to grow bigger. Sally had many conflicting thoughts in her mind, and all she wanted to do now was think about other things, she turned to Flo and gave her a look in assurance.

"So, how has your work been going?" Sally asked, smiling.

Shrugging her tires a little, Flo was caught a little off guard with Sally's sudden topic change but then again she wasn't surprised, it was quite expectant for someone like Sally to change the conflicting and difficult topic to overcome. "Well, service has been great for the past few years. I've actually had to order more gas in because of the extra customers I get around off season racing time." She explained.

The two girls continued this conversation about Flo's work life until they found that they had spent enough time at the motel and decided to hit the road once again. Neither of them were still sure of where to go, they knew that they were heading towards California but weren't sure of stopping there. It had been a really long time since Sally had been out of town, and she was really glad she was spending it with her best friend.

Meanwhile back in Radiator Springs, it was a little after mid noon and Lightning was checking up with the staff at Wheel Well to make sure that everything was running smoothly. He was very pleased to see that all the staff had everything taken care of. Lightning found that Sally's staff for the motel were very helpful and was starting to think that Sally was worrying herself over nothing; if she had other staff surely Sally would have time to herself and her family.

But he knew of her strong commitment to making others happy before herself, it was a common trait that Lightning himself was still getting used to doing. Out of all the cars in Radiator Springs, Sally had the biggest influence on him and completely changed his life the moment he realised how much they cared for each other. Thinking to this day, he remembered all those precious moments they shared together. Some were very close an intimate while others were teasing and just pure playing around, there were some saddening times whenever Lightning had to leave town, but Sally always assured him that she would be fine.

Thinking about how Sally could just be over thinking things, he decided to talk to one of the staff. He drove inside and saw that there was a staff member working the counter, remembering that Guido had only worked night shifts.

"Hi there, do you have a moment?" Lightning greeted, flashing a small adoring smile at the staff member.

She giggled in reply. "Okay Mr McQueen I'll be with you in a moment." The staff member implied.

So Lightning nodded and waited a moment for the girl to finish up with the customers before she startled him from behind, apologising as she saw the startled expression on Lightning.

"Sorry, was there something you wanted to talk about? If you're worried about things around here, or if Sally's asking through you, everything is working out just fine here." She assured him.

The race car nodded with a small smile, already knowing that things were working fine in the motel. "I know that, I was going to ask about how often would you guys work in Sally's off time?" He asked, not revealing the condition Sally was in.

Raising her eyelids a little, surprised to hear that Sally wanted more down time for herself made her feel slightly suspicious, but she shrugged it off as she saw the dreamy look in Lightning's eyes as he looked away for a short moment, most likely thinking about Sally.

"I presume Sally wants more off time to spend with you?" She questioned him, smirking.

Lightning chuckled a little at the tease, he had to admit she was pretty much on point with that question, yet she had left out the small detail which was the main reason behind getting more time off work. "Actually yeah, she just doesn't want to be really stressed out all the time. So I was wondering how long each day...how often...?"

Getting back to the main question of the conversation, the staff member gasped quickly before looking down in quick thought, and then looking over towards the other staff that were fixing up the rooms. "Well, I don't think it would be too much trouble, after all it was Sally's intention to keep this place running. I think all of her staff would be willing to work overtime just to keep her happy." She explained with and assuring smile.

He felt much more relaxed and assured about Sally's work here at the motel, he thanked the girl for her time and then he proceeded back down towards the town to check on the Cozy Cone Motel, he could already see his best friend Mater waiting there for him.

"Hey McQueen!" Mater said ecstatically. "A few customers came in but nothing else happened." He informed, raising himself up a little higher with pride.

Lightning let a chuckle escape his mouth. "Okay Mater, that's good to hear. Did you book them in like I told you?"

Mater nodded I reply, giving a formal and modest expression before he quickly changed to a goofy and excited mood. "I can't wait until tonight! Oh boy Sherriff's going to be mad tomorrow!"

So Lightning remained down in town knowing that Wheel Well was taken care of, he wanted to call Sally and assure her that everything was running fine without her, but felt like he really shouldn't disturb her while she was away having some fun times with her best friend, just like he and Mater would from time to time with the tractor tipping.

After some time, Lightning decided to leave the motel for a short while just to take a break and think about other things. So he went home and decided to take a short nap. He had been mostly busy taking care of the Cozy Cone while the Wheel Well was running smoothly, however he did have to take care of things up there shortly after Sally and Flo left town. It was a little tiring and Lightning was beginning to understand what Sally's life was like day to day. He realised how much work she gave herself.

Lightning knew Sally couldn't work like this forever, and with a little one on the way it was a guarantee that she wouldn't be working the same way again. He wanted to make sure that Sally had equal commitment to everything but yet still kept her stress levels low, he knew that from time to time stress would be inevitable but he didn't want to make Sally feel even more stressed than she was right now.

He was really glad he thought of this idea of a trip, it was a great way for not just Sally to relax, but for her to relax with her closest best friend Flo. Lightning wondered if Sally left town much while he was out doing race practice. He decided not to over think it and think about other things. Taking in a deep breath he thought of the future, everything seemed to be very exciting and happy for the future, it was just this large speed bump that sally hadn't quiet gotten over yet, but lightning could feel her trying to.

Sally kept it for a reason; he knew that she was the kind of car who wouldn't do that to something that seemed almost impossible in today's time. She had an attachment to it but hadn't fully realised it yet. With all the cars Lightning has met over his many years of racing, he remembers not meeting many young cars. Only in his recent years has he seen a few young cars, he remembers one from when he went to Japan but that was the last time he saw a young car. It was amazing and incredibly lucky for him and Sally to be able to create new life with each other.

Thinking back towards seeing other young cars in his lifetime, he imagined what his young car would look like. He was sincerely hoping that the car would resemble much of Sally, because he loved her more than anything else, however he didn't mind if it looked more like him. If Lightning was truly honest with himself, he didn't care too much whether it was a boy or girl, he was actually more hoping that no matter whether they were a boy or girl, that they would be into their father's racing career and perhaps pursue it for themselves one day.

It was an exciting thing to think about; it made Lightning look up with hope and optimism, knowing that soon Sally will be very happy with this little accident and that the three of them would be happily living together with less stress and more love in their lives.

Lightning thought that it was only Sally that was truly worried, and that when she returned home that she would be much happier and confident about how everything will eventually turn out. Lightning was definitely looking forward to being a father, regardless of the fact that they had only been engaged a couple of weeks. This made his thoughts shift to when the two of them would be getting married, thinking about the public he found it to be better if they were married before the little car arrived, but he wasn't sure if they could pull off a wedding in that much time and since he was due for racing practice near when the little one was due, he was worried of when they should have this wedding.

He was more confident about having it before their new car was to come, but he knew he had to talk it over with Sally first, he would only do it if Sally was happy with it first. He didn't like making relationship decisions without her.

 **Okay, before you guys say anything, this chapter IS longer in terms of the word count, not the actual scrolling amount you guys get. So there is actually plenty here written for you guys. I was just writing a lot of paragraphs in this one that's all.**

 **Well, clearly with all those paragraphs you can tell I really got motivated to write this. And I am finding my way through towards the ending with each Chapter I write, still not sure when the ending will be though. I'll let you know when I have a good idea of when that is. ;)**

 **So I'll see you all next week for Chapter 16! ^^**


	16. Exciting Thoughts

**Yeah...this is late because I was working on some other things plus a huge drawing present for one of my friends on deviantART...but I'm relieved to say I got it done and am pleased with the results and so is she :) So anyways, I figured if I listen to the Cars soundtrack(s) I'll get more into the zone for writing the chapters for this story, because I seem to only get really motivated to do this story when I listen to those songs. XD**

 **Well it's nice to see things moving along in this story, but I want to finish it because I still wanna work on my other FanFic over this one, but I am doing this one for you guys and because I hate leaving things unfinished, because I know the pain of following people that do comics and stories and then they don't finish them. I like to push through all the way to the end ^^**

 **So enjoy the slightly delayed Chapter 16 of What Happens Next! :D**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 16 – Exciting Thoughts**

The week away from home really cleared up Sally's mind. She was able to think more freely and slowly start to accept the circumstances of that one time that caused it all. Although the thoughts of getting married either before or after the arrival of the new car were conflicting her mind, she remained positive about her decision to keep it and raise it with Lightning, it made her gleam a smile in thought as she looked towards the future; seeing a happy family.

Flo and Sally had kept a majority on the road taking in the sights and taking the time to catch up with one another's lives away from home and work, however every night they parked at a local motel to rest. It was now their third day away from Radiator Springs and the two were resting their tires, about to head into their separate rooms.

"I guess I'm just worried about marriage..." She admitted, driving towards her room.

The retired show girl car nuzzled Sally's side a little in support, showing a caring smile. "Marriage is never easy honey; don't worry too much about it. I know we took this time off to sort stuff like this out, but the most important thing is that both of us, but mostly you have to relax and calm yourself so you can think straight." Flo explained in an assuring tone.

Sally looked up at her best friend, her lips curled into a small smile of feeling reassured. She slowly entered her room, thanking Flo for her words while doing so and then resting herself in the motel room on her own. Flo had gone down a few doors but was not far, she rested her tires and went straight to sleep, glad to see that this week away from home and work was working not just for Sally but for Flo as well.

For the past three days it had been a rocky ride, Sally only had a moment or two where she couldn't handle it and cried herself out, making Flo rush to her side and assure that everything was alright. She hadn't thought of a clear way to get around her two jobs, but now she was starting to feel like she could simply ask her staff to work more for her while she was tending to her family, and although she didn't want to overwork her staff, she knew that it would be for the best.

And with all the friends that supported not just her, but both her and Lightning, she felt like there was many others that could help them get through this. She knew that when Lightning was racing for the season things would get a lot more busier for her and she would have to take more time off, but now all she could respond to in that matter was a small smirk before pouting slightly.

She slowly drove over to the only window in her room, she looked up and saw the moon rising above the horizon, making her think deeply about what to expect. Some things didn't happen like clockwork; some things like the moon would rise when they would, and set when they would. To Sally, it was starting to seem much clearer that time wasn't a huge factor, and although in some ways it was, she felt more relaxed about time. It was like the sun and the moon; things would rise and set at a time that was not considered right or wrong. It was only a time.

In a whisper tone, she spoke to herself caringly. "I don't understand why I worry so much, it seems like over thinking is just in my nature." She assumed, smirking in thought before giggling a little in thought of her little one having that trait. "I might have to deal with that with someone else too." She added cheekily, closing her eyes with a small giggle.

As the moon rose, Sally grew tireder, she was beginning to see just how tired she would get now that she was expecting, she hadn't had many naps so far but some would take up a chunk of the time. She had only had two naps since the trip, and she was glad that she was with someone that although had no first off experience understood exactly what was going on.

So as she fell asleep, back in Radiator Springs out in the fields were Mater and Lightning doing some hilarious tractor tipping. They had finished up another day of hard work looking after the two motels and Mater towing and salvaging, so they decided to celebrate by toppling over the entire field of tractors.

Laughing silently at each other, the two snuck up on a few tractors and woke them up with Mater's tooting horn and Lightning's revving engine. It made the tractors jump with surprise and fall on their backs, with some other tractors nearby doing the same, making the pair cackle with laughter as they enjoyed the night.

It wasn't long until they had woken up Frank and decided to make a dash for it, panicking and laughing together as they sped out of the field and back towards town, sighing in relief and laughing slowly as they caught their breath.

"Oh man that was fun." Lightning stated, panting with a wide smile.

Mater nodded in reply, his laughing slowly dying down in the process. "Isn't it always fun, buddy?" He said, before having a brilliant and exciting idea, gasping at the thought. "Hey, maybe someday I can teach your kid to come tractor tipping with me!" He exclaimed with a widened smile.

Thinking about him becoming a father was exciting enough, Mater suggesting that made him chuckle at the thought, knowing how strict Sally may turn out to be because of her hard work towards the motels. "Oh I don't know about that buddy, Sally might not let them, and they might not even have a horn." He added, knowing that he was made without a horn.

The tow truck chuckled at the thought of how Lightning and Sally's new car would turn out to be like; he imagined a little speedy rascal getting up to mischief just like Lightning would do sometimes. "Well I can tell you for sure, it's going to be a very speedy little car." He teased with a nudge, reminding Lightning that although Lightning was born to be a race car, Sally was a sports car and could go almost just as fast.

Lightning knew very clearly what Mater meant, the two of them always loved to race each other, they both used to live in the fast lane, and although Lightning still is living like that a little he has taken things down a notch. The remembrance of he and Sally speeding up to Wheel Well all the time made him sigh as he imagined a little car following them up towards the motel. It was an adoring and exciting feeling, he couldn't wait until that day were to happen.

"I just can't wait to see the little car; I bet it's going to have blue eyes." He insisted, looking down in thought with an adoring smile.

Mater awed at the sight of seeing his best friend like this, he rarely saw Lightning like this on his own, adoring moments that Lightning had were usually with Sally, he thought of Lightning being more on the jokey side with him, but he did respect that their friendship was unbreakable, and each would remind each other that they had a strong friendship that could never be fully explained and understood.

"Someone's excited to become a daddy." He cooed, nudging Lightning's side with his tire.

Wincing a little as Mater seemed to nudge a little harder than he thought he was going to, he looked up at his best friend with a smirk, before letting that name stick for a moment. It was something that he would indeed have to get used to eventually, and although at the moment they were only expecting, it wasn't too late to practice getting used to being called that, he wondered if Sally thought the same.

"And someone is going to become a mommy too." He added, referring to Sally. "I hope she can get used to it too. It's going to be weird but it'll stick eventually."

Now whenever Lightning heard that name he would mentally jump with excitement. He loved being called that, and could imagine one of the first words from their car would be 'daddy'. It made his pupils dilate in thought as he lips curved into an excited and adoring smile.

The two separated for the night, seeing that it was getting very late. Lightning hadn't made any contact with Sally yet, and worried about whether she and Flo were alright. But he had to assume that since Sally hadn't backed out of the trip and came racing back home, she was doing alright. He didn't want to interrupt them, and especially since it was this late at night he decided not to contact her just yet.

He was thinking that maybe he shouldn't contact her at all during this trip, just so he doesn't bug her and Flo every single day, Lightning knew how stressed Sally could get and he didn't want his regular contact with her from home keep her that way. The trip was for one main thing, and that was to keep Sally calm and relaxed so she can better organise her life out before everything was set in stone.

There might be some decisions made without him, he didn't mind, just as long as he knew what was going on exactly before anything was initiated. Lightning knew the choices Sally made most of the time were okay with him, he sincerely hoped that when she and Flo come back home in four days that she could talk to him calmly about everything and what they had planned while they were away.

Lightning too was trying to figure out plans on his own, because he didn't want Sally doing all the work while he just looked after the two motels and doing nothing else. He wanted his own importance in this relationship, and he knew proposing was the first speed bump to getting where he and Sally wanted to go. And although this unexpected event was definitely not planned, he knew that with a clear mind the two of them could work together to sort everything out in time.

So as the next day arrived, Lightning woke up and after something to eat he went straight to work. In the meantime, Sally and Flo had woken up and were checking out of the motel to hit the road once again.

"Well, I can see that you've been enjoying this trip." Flo stated, smiling with her eyes widened.

Sighing as she relaxed herself, the two of them drove out of the motel and headed towards the main road. "Yes, I certainly have been. I've been seeing just how stressed I really can get when I over think things." She said, before remembering that the over thinking trait might be passed on. "And I wouldn't be surprised if someone else has that trait too." She teased with a wink, Flo nodding and chuckling to herself in response.

The pair drove onto the main road, driving down as they had drove way past California and were now driving along the coastline, seeing the ocean with the morning sun rising higher up into the sky, it made Sally go back to her thoughts from the night before. Like the sun and the moon, sometimes one little change can make a big difference, but in the end all will work out and although one thing may seem different, it can be worked around.

It made Sally smile in thought as she adored the sight of the ocean water sparkling against the warm rays of the sun, hearing the crashes of the waves of the sand made her sigh in a relaxed tone, deeply wanting to go to the beach with Lightning one night and just enjoy each other's company.

Flo caught her off guard, giggling a little as she saw Sally with a dreamy look of an expression printed all over her. "You want to head down to the beach?" She suggested, teasing almost since they had to have the right tires for going down there.

Sally sighed once again at the thought, it was a very relaxing and loving thing to think about, but yet she couldn't see that happening any time soon. If she really wanted to relax she would be down there right now just taking in the sights and letting her mind go at full ease, not worrying about anything at all.

"Yeah...but I want to go down there with Lightning. It would be such a nice place just to unwind for a little while." She explained, looking towards the coast the entire time she spoke. "It's been so long since I've actually seen the coast." Sally added, remembering how long she had been away from all of this.

Flo understood perfectly what Sally meant, it was the perfect kind of place to relax and forget about everything for a while, and it gave her a great honeymoon idea for her and Lightning. She did not say a word continuing that conversation after that idea popped in her mind, although she grew excited in thought and couldn't wait to talk to the others back home about it.

It was a long and quiet drive, the two had driven like this for a little over two hours, talking here and there about their surroundings and how things would be holding up back home. Both girls had certainty that everything was under control back in Radiator Springs, if it wasn't then they would be back home already.

Sally thought about back home and how Lightning would be dealing with this time without her. Although Lightning was usually away for a month or two because of racing, she was still worried about him because this time it was her that was away from home for a little while, just to clear her head out and set things straight.

She hadn't fully opened her mind to everything just yet, but she had been thinking much about everything that happens after the new car has arrived; it would be an exciting experience to see the three of them together. It made her smile in awe at the thought of what the little car would look like, and what traits would it have. She imagined it having Lightning's big ego, and with sparkling blue eyes just like she and Lightning had.

When it came to its speed there was no doubt that she was going to have to raise a little speedster, she knew all too well that even though it was obvious enough Lightning was a race car, she could speed pretty fast too when she really wanted to. So there was definite assurance that they wouldn't be raising a slow and lazy little one together, they were sincerely lucky, and they hadn't even seen the new car yet. This was how excited both she and Lightning were, although there were some speed bumps blocking her full acceptance and excitement towards this happening, she could see a happy family in her future.

As day four of their trip went on, both Lightning and Sally remained positive throughout the day while they went on with what they were doing. Lightning was having a fun time making sure everything was fine at the two motels while also having a little off time with Mater and his other friends when he could. Sally and Flo took in their sights and had stopped at a cafe for lunch; really surprised by the different things they could have outside of Radiator Springs, it made Flo get ideas on how she could improve her cafe.

"I should get this stuff for my cafe, it tastes really good!" She exclaimed before taking in another mouthful.

Sally chuckled in reply, seeing Flo enjoying herself with her lunch while Sally admired everything around her. It looked a little busy and it did remind her of how busy she would usually be back at home but it didn't mind her too much. She had really enjoyed her trip away so far, and although she and Flo hadn't done much planning for anything yet, she was already looking forward to coming back home and seeing everyone.

It made her think more worryingly with a slight frown, she looked up at a very happy and satisfied Flo before sighing. "I think we should make some plans you know?" She said in a serious tone, raising her lips a little.

Flo looked up from her, seeing the seriousness in her expression. Although the two had enjoyed their relaxing time, and Flo had been giving as much assurance to Sally as she needed, planning for the future had to be done before they got back. They didn't want to make too many plans without Lightning so it wouldn't seem like they were controlling his life based around their plans, they only wanted to throw out some simple ideas and suggestions and look at what could work best.

So after lunch the two of them headed down the main road once again, and after a little while of driving they parked near an airport to watch some of the planes take off in the distance, this was to also recollect their thoughts and think of plans and suggestions for Lightning and Sally's future together.

"What about marriage? What do I do?" Sally asked to Flo, hoping she had the right answer.

Flo sighed as she slowly closed her eyes and opened them again. "Look, the easiest part is actually getting married. The hardest part is planning everything, and organising certain things so that such things as your job and other responsibilities can work around it just for a short while." Flo explained, as she saw a small plane take off.

Sally knew she was right; getting married as well as getting engaged was the simplest part of it all. She and Lightning had to get over this very large speed bump of planning and organising everything before that could officially happen.

Since time had become a less important factor to Sally, she was able to talk about it in a more calming tone.

"Okay, well how about time? Would before or after be the right time?" She asked, worried about Lightning's public status before realising the answer already.

"There is no right or wrong time." Flo answered in an assured tone. "There is only a time, don't find a way to give it a positive or negative vibe, just think of it as a number and nothing else."

Flo's words were exactly what Sally's mind was telling her. She widened her eyes before lowering herself a little as she let that click in her mind.

Although she couldn't think fully open about not giving time a negative or positive attachment to it, she wanted to have a time in which both she and Lightning would be happy for. And Sally preferred that the two of them be married before the new car arrives to keep Lightning's public status in check. She didn't want anyone thinking that the two of them would be irresponsible.

 **It was a bit hard to budge out here and there but I managed in the end, I'm glad there's actually people reading this story and I'm not just wasting 2 hours of my time to write this every week ^^ So the next Chapter should be on time as far as I know, but things could come up I don't know, you'll just have to wait and see.**

 **So see you on Friday for Chapter 17! ;)**


	17. Finalising Plans

**I messed up my upload schedule on deviantART, that's why this is late yet again, but a little earlier than the last Chapter ^^ I usually like to keep two artworks in between the chapters of stories that I upload. So if any of you actually follow me (the author) then you'd be aware that I was working on another FanFic at the same time that I'm working on this one, I upload this story plus that one onto deviantART every so often. However I update the other FanFic twice a week and like I said before I like to keep two drawings in between each chapters regardless of the story so you can see how stressful I've made myself become...^^;**

 **But don't worry, I'm handling it. ;) Sometimes I work better under pressure, and sometimes after finishing these kinds of things on a day to day basis makes me feel glad and relieved that I got those things done. :) Hopefully you guys understand what I mean.**

 **So yeah, here's the yet again slightly delayed Chapter. I do apologise yet again but as I said, I've been stressing myself out ever since I started my graphic design course, but I'll work things out. Enjoy Chapter 17 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 17 – Finalising Plans**

Sally thought more in depth about taking into consideration Lightning's career and popularity status, although she knew that since he moved to town he didn't care much about it anymore, it still worried her that having this car before they were married would give them a bad image and a bad influence on others around them. She didn't want any of this to affect Lightning's career in a negative way, or hers for that matter. She didn't want to seem like she wasn't well kept together and organised, not having a care in the world.

Getting married before it was born was the best option, and as she thought about it outside the reason for the sake of the new car affecting their image, it made her feel bubbly and excited inside. Sally couldn't wait to get married to him, she was starting to joke to herself whether she would have gotten married sooner anyway in spite of this entire situation occurring. She giggled at the thought as Flo was next to her checking out the view from their rest park off the main road.

"Having positive thoughts I presume?" Flo assumed, taking her eyes off the view to see a giggling Sally.

Sally nodded, glad that she was feeling positive and excited about everything now, but she knew at the back of her mind were the plaguing thoughts of the planning, the organising, the dates, the deadlines, and so on. It made her giggles fade away slowly before she looked around her environment in deep thought.

"Getting married before it's born I find to be a better option." Sally implied. "It's better for Lightning's image, and mine." She added, caring about how the public saw their relationship.

"I understand sweetie, and I can see that working for someone like you who can organise everything in such a short time frame. I know that with my help and everyone else's help, including Lightning, we will be able to get you two a wedding up and running before it's due and before Lightning starts his training for the next season." Flo assured in a big mouthful, taking a deep breath and a sigh shortly after in tiredness.

Taking a moment to process all of what Flo just told her, she smiled contently as she felt herself relax more. They were making progress with plans. Sally felt like she could just about go home today rather than three days for now, but she knew rushing things to get back home after some much needed relaxation might stress her too much. So as Sally thought through her plans, Flo sighed as she looked towards the future, smiling in delight in thought of how Lightning and Sally's wedding would turn out.

"I could talk to Ramone for you about a specific kind of coat? I know you had been talking about it earlier, but that was before you were under a heap amount of stress." She reminded with a smirk, before seeing the slightly insulted look in Sally's expression. "Oh...I apologise if I hurt you honey."

Sally shook her hood in assurance as she turned back to the view in front of her. "No, it's alright. I'll get used to it eventually." Sally assured her, as she continued to think more about what else they had planned to discuss while they were away.

The wedding plans looked like they could all be handled back at home now; Sally could already see the setting of their wedding, which would be at town hall where Lizzie and Stanley had gotten married a long time ago. She tried to imagine a honeymoon of some sort but couldn't think outside of just staying home to take a few days off to be with Lightning.

Thinking about her career against Lightning's, she could see more clearly now that hers was easier to handle in this situation, while Lightning's was more difficult during the racing season in summer. She sighed as she thought about the extra time she would have to spend off work just to take care of the little car, but she knew as she looked at Flo that she and Lightning had many good friends that were more than willing to take care of the little car while she and Lightning were busy with their jobs.

As she thought about the little car, she imagined a new section of her and Lightning's house being built up to represent the room where the little car will learn how to drive for the first time, as well as learn many other things it needed to learn before driving out on the main roads alongside other cars.

It made her smile in thought. It seemed to her like everything was taken care of, all she had to do now was relax a little more and add any further idea plans she had to her list of plans and ideas before she and Flo went home three days from now to tell Lightning and the others of their plans. Sally knew that as soon as she got home she would be taking her idea into action and sincerely hoping that everything would turn out alright.

So for the next three days, Flo and Sally pitched a few more ideas to each other and meanwhile back home Lightning and Mater were doing something similar but were not setting anything in stone just yet, and most of the ideas Lightning had seemed to be very convincing and doable that he didn't really have to ask Sally about, he just had to inform her what he had planned also.

He was thinking that since things will get hectic as soon as his next racing season starts, he finds it better to be married before then, and although marriage is not a race like his career is, he could only find it better than to wait several more months after the little car was born to finally then get married. In all honesty, he would've married Sally this early either way because of how much he loved her, he missed her and thought about her every time he left for his races. Lightning cared about Sally more than anything else and would do almost anything just to make her feel happy.

As the day arrived for Flo and Sally to return home, Lightning grew extremely excited that he woke up just as the sun rose over the eastern skies, he stretched his tires before slowly driving out of his home and looking straight towards the road that led straight out of town. He knew she and Flo wouldn't be back at the crack at dawn but he could imagine.

He saw no one coming that looked like Sally or Flo, so knowing his optimism wasn't going to help him out this morning he decided to go for an early breakfast at Flo's. He was served by one of the early staff members that Flo had hired ever since the town had gotten repopulated.

While Lightning had his breakfast, he thought over the plans he had thought out from the week that Sally and Flo were away from home. He hoped that Sally would go along with his plans, and he hoped that whatever plans Sally and Flo came up with were going to work well and make not just him happy but both him and Sally happy towards the future.

Every day as he thought about that one night, he realised just how lucky he was. He could not wait until he saw what the little car looked like; even though that moment was still a long way's away he was too anxious and excited that he wanted to see his and Sally's newborn car at that very instant. If the new car was going to be born during when he had to be out of town, he would take the day off just to be there with Sally when the newborn car is delivered into the world.

But, there were some things that had to be done first. Lightning couldn't wait to get married, and although it was a thought that his past self would cringe at, he still couldn't wait to see the day that he would make someone else hold his last name with him, and become husband and wife. It was an exciting thought that kept him out of the zone as some of his local friends pulled up and greeted him, beginning to talk about Flo and Sally returning home.

"Um, Lightning? Are you in there?" Sherriff asked, looking at the dazed race car with a confused expression.

A few others looked at the dazed Lightning, confused as to why he was in such a dreamy state. Most of them thought that he had woken up too early and was still trying to wake himself up, but they could see that from his widened smile that it was from his thoughts and nothing else.

"Is he okay?" Luigi asked in concern.

It was then that Mater pulled up excitedly, spinning around and cheering in excitement for the return of Sally and Flo. "Flo and Sally return today!" He announced excitedly, before turning to one of the waitresses with a serious expression. "I'll have my usual." He informed, before driving up to Lightning. "Hey McQueen!" He called, making Lightning return back to reality as he shook his hood, slightly saddened that he was back in the real world.

"Morning Mater, I see I'm not the only one excited to see Sally and Flo return from their trip." Lightning said, looking at his best friend with a gleaming smile.

Mater chuckled as his breakfast was giving to him. "Oh boy, I can't wait to see the two of you together again. It reminds me of me and Holley when we're together." He stated, with a dreamy look and a sigh towards the end as Mater thought of Holley. "I wonder what she's doing right now..." He said aloud.

As a few hours went by, Lightning checked up on the two motels and reminded the staff that Sally will be back at work within the next twenty four hours. He made sure everything was prepped and organised so when Sally was ready to jump back into work all she had to do was look at the new bookings and work her way from there. Meanwhile Sally and Flo made their way past California and were cruising at seventy miles per hour and were nearing closer to Radiator Springs by the minute.

They could already tell by the familiarity of their environment and the smell of nothing but dry dust meant that they were getting closer to home. It was an exciting and refreshing feeling.

These past few days for Sally and Flo were mainly for finding the best places around to relax in. The two had gotten a car wash and were sparkling clean up until they had to drive back on some dirt due to some road works, they had many times where they parked themselves and enjoyed the view, giving Sally and Flo layout ideas for the motels and the cafe.

"I am really looking forward to seeing everyone today." Sally stated with a warm smile as she looked over at Flo briefly before keeping her eyes on the road.

Flo nodded and hummed in agreement. "Me too, I hope things have been holding up at the cafe and those motels."

Sally chuckled in thought; she knew that if something had gone wrong, she and Flo would have been called in to come back home as soon as possible, but that didn't happen at all. In fact, neither of them received any calls whatsoever from their friends. "I doubt anything went wrong while we were gone, I'm pretty sure they would've told us if something was going on by now." Sally reminded, winking also.

It was nice to have no one except the two of them out of town and enjoying life together outside the stresses of work, Sally began to think of how she and Lightning could do this one day. And in mention of Lightning, she was glad yet saddened that Lightning didn't contact her at all during the trip, but she knew he didn't call her out of respect and so she could keep her stress levels down. She was so lucky to have a car like Lightning as a future husband.

She couldn't wait to drive out of the town hall with Lightning by her side as they drove off to their honeymoon, which she still found to be some place around home. Sally was starting to get ideas on whether she should book herself and Lightning in to a special room up at Wheel Well for their honeymoon. If she asked someone to add some special furnishings to a large room it would become the perfect room for a honeymoon, but she didn't know that Flo had even better plans for a honeymoon.

As midday arrived, Lightning was driving around town constantly looking towards the entry and exit of town sincerely hoping that Sally and Flo would come in at any moment. And after the sixth try, he turned to see a blue Porsche and a show girl car coming into town at a cruising speed.

Without even thinking, Lightning immediately dropped what he was doing and started to increase his speed as she drove up to the pair in excitement, so glad to see the two of them back home, especially Sally. Although it had only been a week, it seemed like forever for the two of them.

While Sally was talking to Flo, they could both hear the familiar sound of a revving engine getting closer to the two of them. With an uncontrollable smile, Sally turned to see her fiancé driving down towards her and Flo, and this made her eyes grow watery with small tears in rejoice that she saw him. She drove towards him, Flo staying behind so she could give the two their moment before they would all meet up at her cafe.

"Sally!" Lightning called in a delightful rejoice before the two were inches away from each other. "I am so glad to see you home happy and relaxed." He exclaimed, looking at her with a dreamy look before he gently nuzzled her fender.

Sally retuned the nuzzle, closing her eyes slowly as she felt the warmth of his touch rush through her. "I'm glad to see you too."

When the pair stopped nuzzling, they looked at each other eye to eye in deep adoration and affection towards one another. It was then that they sealed their lips with a passionate kiss, which not long later was interrupted by an ecstatic tow truck.

"McQueen and Sally together again!" Mater sung in a happy tune as he swerved around the two, finally stopping. "It's great to see the two of you back home." Mater said, looking at both Sally and Flo as Flo approached the couple.

Flo chuckled a little at Mater's enthusiastic response to their return. "C'mon everyone, let's get to my cafe." She informed, starting to drive towards her cafe.

Mater lead the way while Sally and Lightning cruised behind, looking at each other with an adoring smile.

"So I presume you had no trouble looking after the two motels while I was gone?" Sally assumed, as she glanced at the Cozy Cone on her way to Flo's cafe with Lightning.

Lightning nodded in assurance. "Yep, and I have good news to tell you about how to handle your career on top of taking care of a family. But I'll explain that to you more later." He assured her with a small wink as the pair drove up to the cafe to see half of their friends there already.

Flo was embracing Ramone with a small nuzzle and a kiss on the fender while Mater was looking at Sally and Lightning with pure excitement, before he drove over to waitress to order his lunch maintaining a serious expression. Guido and Luigi were also there, as well as Fillmore and Ramone, and Red too. There were a few other cars around that were local customers, and were happy to see the famous couple together after a solid week apart from one another.

"Welcome home you two, I can see from those smiles that you two had a great time?" Ramone presumed, smirking with a raised eyelid.

Sally half chuckled at Ramone's assumption, knowing all too well that she indeed had a great time away from home, but at the same time she couldn't help but miss it every day she was gone. "We sure did, yet I missed being around her with everyone and taking care of the motels, and being around my fiancé." She added in the end, edging closer to Lightning as a few local customers awed at the sight of seeing them together like that.

"So I trust that you two made some plans?" Lightning asked, looking at Sally with brightened eyes and a small smile.

His fiancé nodded in response, but then shook her hood in a wink before giving Lightning the hint that they couldn't talk about most of that in public. Lightning nodded in assurance that he understood what she meant; he turned to the others giving the same reminder to his other friends.

"We did, and I know that they'll all work out in the end." Sally stated with confidence, pressing her lips together firmly in the form of a determined smile.

So later on at their home, Sally and Lightning were embracing each other once again with a passionate kiss before they unlocked lips and began to discuss more of what the two of them had thought up while Sally and Flo were out of town. Lightning began first as he felt that Sally had so much more to tell than he did.

"Okay, so one of my ideas was to get married before my next racing season starts and before the little one is born." He explained, giving Sally a slightly serious face, but with a small smile.

Sally widened her eyes in surprise; it was almost uncanny that she and Lightning thought the same way about getting married before everything happened all at once. It did seem like a better option, and she knew all too well that both of them would be too busy after racing season starts and after the newborn car is brought into the world. She was glad that she and Lightning shared some of the same ideas.

"Wow, you know that's actually what I had in mind also." Sally replied, giving a surprised expression.

Lightning returned this surprised expression back at her, shocked and glad that the two of them thought the same some of the time. It made things much easier and it was a better way of saying that their idea was a great one. The race car chuckled in thought before he continued.

"Well, it looks like we agree on that. But how long from now did you want to get married?" Lightning asked.

This made Sally's thoughts trail off into the deep and stressful end of her mind, but were soon brought out of it. She hadn't thought of an actual date for the two of them getting married yet, she felt like she should not just discuss it with Lightning, but talk with others also about when the wedding should happen. However she felt like she had to give some sort of guesstimate as to when they would get married, all she knew was that it had to be before summer.

 **Whoa...longest Chapter in this story in terms of word count! XD I actually had a whole page in Word just full of paragraphs! Lol. But yeah, there's Chapter 17 for you. I'm actually finding the ending to be closer than I initially thought. I still haven't got a clear number but I'm seeing less than 10 Chapters until this story is wrapped up.**

 **So once again, if the next Chapter is not up next Friday it's because some stuff came up. Don't worry I don't forget or neglect this story, it's just other things come up. ;) See you next week! ^^**


	18. Wedding Plans

**Okay, in case you missed what I said in the end of the last chapter, I'll update when I can. And that's basically what I'm doing now with this story since things have been getting real busy for me. Now with this story, I don't see it lasting that much longer...not saying that this is the last chapter but...I know what to end it with already, it's just getting there that's the thing.**

 **So I'd like to get things moving along with this story, not to get it over with but to make more progression towards the end. It also doesn't help that right now I'd rather work on my other story but I'm doing this one first because a chapter for this is more overdue than that one is (that one's by a day), even though I just said I'm uploading whenever I can now. ;)**

 **Well, enjoy Chapter 18 of What Happens Next! ^^ Oh, and just a heads up that this story will more than likely not be 30+ chapters like most of my stories. I think maybe around 24 Chapters? *shrugs* I dunno...**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 18 – Wedding Plans**

Lightning could see the conflicted and difficult thinking in Sally's mind, he knew he asked a difficult question but he only assumed that she and Flo had discussed this while they were away. He curled his lips into an assuring smile to make her thoughts feel calmer as she looked at him briefly while in thought. She smiled before she came to a decision.

"Towards the end of your break, but not too close." She ended with a wink, hoping Lightning would understand her answer.

The race car took a moment to process his fiancé's answer. So it was before April, that's all that Lightning knew. But he began to think more deeply about her answer. Not too close to his next racing season would be a month or two before the racing season starts. He began to get an idea, but had to ask something first.

"Wait, when are you due?" He asked, his tire pointing to her.

Sally remembered the number of months that was given to her, it was another 5 months until she would be due. It had only been a few weeks since she found out, and just the thought of it made her feel nauseated. So with a quick calculation, she found an approximate date.

"I'm due in March...near the end." She answered, before realising how close that was to Lightning starting up his races again, and not far off from the date she wanted to get married on.

Lightning parted his lips as a small 'o' sound echoed out of it as he looked down, realising the same facts that Sally realised, making it more stressful thoughts go into his mind. Sally was no different, she wanted to get married before she would start a family, and she didn't want to risk getting married so close to her due date in case something happened on that day. It made the pair worry deeply as they looked at each other with concerning looks.

"How is this going to work then? Maybe in February...?" Lightning suggested.

The blue Porsche looked down in worried thought. "Well...my initial idea was to get married near the end of February..." She implied, before an idea sparked in her mind, causing a more positive vibe to come from her now happy expression. "I have a better idea." She ended, giving a smirk to Lightning, hinting at something.

Lightning raised an eyelid, not fully understanding what Sally meant at first, but as he realised what special day falls into that month, he realised exactly what Sally's idea was, and smiled in response. "That's a great idea." He answered, moving closer to her.

The two cars leaned in before Sally moved away from Lightning slightly, excited and happy that they were able to work something out. Lightning felt a little neglected when Sally left his side, but smiled in delight to see the love of his life happy and excited, he chuckled at her enthusiastic attitude.

"This is great, we worked something out!" She cheered in excitement, before heading towards the door. "I'm going to get right to planning this instant!" Her voice echoed before she was out the door, leaving Lightning laughing at how happy and enthusiastic Sally was.

He was glad that one week away from home and work gave not just her, but Flo too, a lot of time to clear their minds and think more about the situations and how to deal with them. There were many other heavy matters they had to sort out together, but for the time being, it was wedding planning. Lightning went straight to Ramone's to check out the possible paint jobs he could have.

After all, with the day they had planned, they had less than 4 months to plan everything.

It was an exciting adrenaline rush for the both of them, Lightning saw Sally drive into the Cozy Cone Motel to organise some things at her desk, while Lightning carried on to Ramone's shop, seeing that it was nearly break time for him anyways. He drove into the shop, and saw Otis yet again getting repaired. Lightning waited outside the shop looking over to the Cozy Cone Motel seeing from a distance that Sally was smiling happily as she started to plan things.

"Hey McQueen, come on in man." Ramone greeted from behind after finishing up with Otis.

Lightning smiled in reply and followed on in, the first thing he looked at were the hoods standing up against the window. He shook his hood as he saw the flames and bizarre colour schemes that seemed to look amazing but yet, were nothing suitable for a wedding paint job.

"So, what can I do you for? Did you talk with Sally?" Ramone asked, while packing some things away from fixing up Otis.

The race car chuckled in reply as he looked around the room in thought. "Yeah I did." He answered simply.

Ramone turned, raising an eyelid in slight confusion as he smirked. "And?"

"We'll be getting married on Valentine's Day." He announced with a smile.

A widened smile of excitement appeared on Ramone's face before he bumped his tire against Lightning's fender. "Good date man!" He complimented, glad to see that they both picked the most romantic day of the year to get married on.

He remained excited for the two of them before he realised just how close that date was to today's date, it made Ramone's excitement disappear slightly and turn into panic. "That's four months from now..." He stated, realising the little time Lightning and Sally had before then.

Lightning hummed in reply with his lips sucked in slightly, feeling slightly nervous. But as he looked over to Sally again to see her fully motivated to get right into planning, it made him feel more relaxed about the situation. He knew the two of them could pull it off in time, they were both speedy cars so maybe there was a way to make their actual speed into how fast they could prepare for the wedding, but by the looks of Sally she seemed to be speeding into it already.

The race car had been slowing things down so much since he moved to Radiator Springs that he almost forgot how he was able to get things done within a less amount of time than how he would do things now. He widened his eyes in thought, knowing that he had to make quick decisions just like he did before he moved to town, but these decisions were not going to be the same as asking for an autograph or seeing the fan girls, Lightning had to think seriously about these decisions as they would make up an important part of Sally's and his most important day of their lives so far.

"It's a lot to do in four months, but I know we can pull it off." Lightning assured, looking up at Ramone and then knowing he had their friends' help too. "And we'll have you and the others to help us." He ended with a smile.

Ramone smiled at the thought, happy to see that Lightning and Sally were thinking on a more positive note, and especially Sally due to the amount of stress she was under. Which made Ramone go back to some other thoughts he had, he wondered how Sally would be able to handle all of this even with the help from friends around town. It worried him, and made Lightning ask in curiosity of why he was holding such an expression.

"Ramone, something up?" Lightning asked.

He hummed in response as he looked up towards the ceiling in thought, before looking back down at the race car again. "How has Sally been going?" He asked, in regards to the little car growing inside of her.

Widening his eyes at the sudden change in topic, but quickly geared his mind to think about the unborn car, Lightning looked up at Ramone with an assured smile but then a confused frown. "She's doing fine, why?"

"Oh...well, I was only asking in concern since she's expecting and all." He replied, looking down shyly. "I don't know from experience with Flo but I have seen many other cars since my time being here that many other expectant cars needed as much support as they needed." Ramone lectured, before moving his eyes over to where Sally was.

Lightning followed Ramone to the window where they both looked straight ahead towards the Cozy Cone Motel; a customer had just driven in as they looked over at the motel.

"You need to look out for her as much as you can. I recommend being around her more at work, but not to the point where you're always around her, give her some distance but at the same time, make sure she's alright. The next few months are going to be big for her. I've seen it before, I know." Ramone explained in a serious tone, remembering all the times he saw an expectant car struggle with everyday life.

This made Lightning press his lips firmly together and look down in deep thought, he had to balance out spending more time around Sally to make sure she was alright but also not be around her that much to the point where she would get annoyed with his constant presence. He thought to himself that he should discuss that with Sally, but knowing Sally's stubborn nature he decided not to and keep it secret. He knew she'd understand him in the end.

"Okay, I'll be with her more often, but not too often like you said." Lightning stated, reversing out from the window and winking to Ramone with a small smirk of assurance.

Ramone winked in reply. "Good luck bro, I'll see you around."

So as the next few weeks went on, Lightning kept his distance from Sally less than he used to while at the same time making sure she was alright. His excuse to hide what he was really doing was to help her around at work, but at the same time he was sort of telling the truth as well. All the other times that Sally asked why he was around, he simply said he wanted to be around her more.

And as the weeks progressed closer to Christmas, more and more wedding plans had gone underway. Lightning had already decided on a good coat of paint while Sally still hadn't picked out a good veil to go across her eyes, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be painted white for her wedding day, aside from it being traditional, she wanted to be more unique.

Also during this time, Sally had the constant morning sickness, the unnecessary cravings at odd times of the day, a few after lights were out, which made Lightning also go without sleep for a night or two. Sally constantly slept in and tried to wake herself up early but it didn't work as well as it used to, so she asked her staff to work morning shifts until she would get back up to speed again.

She wanted it to be all over, but at the same time as she thought about it she didn't want it to end because of the wedding. Getting married before the new car was born proved to be a great idea otherwise things would get incredibly busy after the new car arrived, with Lightning starting up his next racing season and Sally driving back and forth from home to work. Although they had friends that could help out, they both know that there could be one of those rare times that no one is available to car sit the little one.

Sally's thoughts trailed off marriage as she was now thinking about cars that would be able to work at strange times during day and possibly night to take care of the little car while she and Lightning weren't home. She didn't know how she would figure it out, but it was something she had to discuss with Lightning first.

Throughout those few weeks, Sally had also finished giving the ideas she and Flo developed while they were away from Radiator Springs. Lightning grew pleased with each idea Sally gave him. Sally returned the same pleased expression in response to Lightning's ideas. It was uncanny that most of the time they thought alike, they chuckled at the subject.

"It's amazing how we can think the same most of the time." Lightning said, his smile widened.

Sally giggled while her eyes were closed. "I think it's because we're meant to be." She ended with a dreamy look, before she inched closer to Lightning's lips.

The two embraced in a long and passionate kiss, before Sally felt a jolting movement inside her that wasn't painful, but was enough to make her feel it. She let a 'boop' sound escape her mouth as she parted lips with Lightning, her eyes grew widened in the sudden movement. Lightning looked up at his fiancé in worry if it was something he done with the kiss, he began to overanalyse it and start to panic.

"That wasn't me, was it?" He asked worryingly.

Sally shook her hood. "No..." She replied in a breathy tone as she looked towards one of her side mirrors, only to see the jolting movement against her frame. "Did you see that!?" Sally asked with a gasp of excitement.

Lightning turned a little to Sally's side, only hearing the sound of something gently pressing against the frame of a car door, he raised an eyelid in concern. "Was that you?" He questioned, worried that Sally was being hurt from the inside, before he realised what Sally meant and a gasp emitted. "Was that...?!"

A wide grin of excitement was plastered over the expecting Sally; she rushed to Lightning's side and nuzzled him in excitement. Lightning gasped again at the sudden rush of excitement Sally was having, but he had to assume that the little car inside had some influence on that.

Although he barely knew anything about this sort of thing, he wasn't expecting movement this early. She and Lightning had been expecting for two months now, there was still three months to go, and only two months until they were going to be married. It was an exciting and nerve-wracking feeling the two of them shared. Luckily most of which had already been set in stone, all that was left was how the tower of cans were going to be organised ( **A/N: That's what I'd like to think of as a wedding cake in the car universe...XD)** as well as how Sally was going to look on the day.

"It moved!" Sally cried excitedly. "It moved!"

Lightning awed at the sight of seeing his fiancé overwhelmed with happiness and joy. He couldn't help but chuckle and smile widely in pure delight as he nuzzled gently against her side. He was more excited than he was before to become a father, it was going to be hard, but all he could see now was a little version of him and Sally moulded together to make the perfect car.

Blue eyes, possibly a purple coat...Lightning couldn't stop thinking about it and sincerely wished that it had more of Sally's traits than his, but it still had Lightning's racing talent and speed, aside from the fact that it would be a speedy car either way, it all depended on the new make model that he and Sally had created.

"I am so excited for us! I can't wait to see the little one." Lightning said enthusiastically, looking at Sally with widened eyes of delight.

Sally smirked, feeling like he should know by now what the gender of their car would be. She giggled a little at the thought. "You know, I'm pretty sure it's a boy, knowing your personality so well I can't imagine it being anything else either than a boy that looks exactly like you."

Lightning knew Sally would think this way, thinking of others except herself. Although he'd love that the car would look like him, he wanted it to look like a unique blend of the two of them, with more Sally in it than him, because there was no one else he adored more than Sally.

"You never know...and besides, I know for a fact that it'll have our blue eyes." He assured in a dreamy look, before Sally cackled with laughter.

"That sounds like we're related!" She joked, laughing more.

The race car shook his hood in sudden realisation of what he just said to Sally. "What? No, that's not what I meant!" He exclaimed with a jokey smile. "Sally..."

Sally calmed down, catching her breath as she turned to her fiancé, slowly recovering from the laughter that Lightning gave her. They both neared each other, leaving less than an inch between each other with Lightning gently rubbing his tire against hers.

"I want them to look more like you, because there's no one I love seeing more than you." He sealed with a kiss.

The two were in yet another passionate kiss, Sally embraced Lightning's words as a heartfelt compliment. He truly had changed for the better good; he was going to make a great father. Sally thought to herself in a smile with her lips still pressed against Lightning's.

They broke apart a little while later, Sally gave an adoring smile to her fiancé before she felt the movement again, excitement rushed through her as she quickly pointed with her eyes to Lightning exactly where she felt that movement. Lightning drove over and saw a very small part of Sally's door poke out a little, it made Lightning lost for words as he gasped with excitement as well, now truly understanding why Sally was so excited.

"It's really alive..." He stated, giving a wide eyed expression towards Sally.

"I can't wait to see it for real." Sally said in excitement, but in a lower tone.

So the two ended the exciting night with a nuzzle and a well deserved night of sleep.

 **Damn that sounds like an ending! But, it's not the ending I assure you! ;) I just wanted to extend this chapter a little longer because it's overdue. Oh well, hope you guys don't mind either way if it's long or short, just as long as you get something from me. ^^**

 **Well, like I said before if I'm too busy on Friday I'll update this story when I can, but if not then you can expect Chapter 19 on Friday, see you then! :D**


	19. Memorable Events

**I think I've worked out a good way to balance both my graphic design course, and my time spent online doing these chapters and artworks on deviantART. If I get most of my homework done before the weekend I ca dedicate the weekend to doing nothing but writing stories and doing arts! :D**

 **So I'm really hoping to finish this story soon so I can work on other things...it doesn't help that stupid me decided to make two comics at once and two stories at once, and out of all those I can see this story finishing first...not saying this is the last chapter, I will tell you guys when the last chapter is. For now I'm seeing Chapter 24 as my approx final chapter but I can't be fully certain yet.**

 **Well, enjoy Chapter 19 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 19 – Memorable Events**

There was snow on the ground and there were Christmas decorations set up all around town, it was Christmas at long last. Lightning and Sally had prepared a lot of their wedding and plans for the new car. Lightning, Mater and Guido had already set up a small training room for the little car to start learning how to drive in.

Sally could already feel the weight of the little car inside her taking affect on her overall weight, she didn't mind because there were no physical changes to her body frame, however the aches from her tires and the sickness hadn't fully cleared up yet, she still struggled to get up in the mornings so she gave her staff a permanent morning shift until she would be able to be back in the swing of things.

Most, if not all of their wedding plans were sorted out, both were extremely relieved to have so much organised two months ahead of schedule. Mater was going to be next to Lightning as Flo would entre first then Sally would drive down the aisle with her shiny new coat of paint and veil while a hired minister at the front would marry the two.

All that was left to do was double check all the dates were right with everyone they invited, they decided to let a few reporters in just so it was clear to the public that Lightning and Sally were getting married, but they didn't want all of Lightning's fans taking up the whole room. Their wedding was going to consist of their friends from around town and a few others outside of town.

Neither of them could wait before they were married, the main thing was to ensure the public knew they were married before the new car would arrive. Their plan was to make it seem like they adopted from the factory as many other cars often did in the recent years. It was to ensure that Lightning didn't give a bad name or influence to his ore younger peers.

Although it sounded like a shallow idea at first, Lightning understood how much Sally cared about both her career and his career. He knew that their priorities should come first, but Lightning didn't want to be constantly bombarded with questions from the press about how irresponsible he seemed by knocking Sally up when they didn't even know if it was possible.

It was Christmas morning, and everyone was parked in front of town hall singing Christmas carols parked next to the Stanley statue, Lizzie the closest as she admired her late husband. Holley and Finn were in town also joining Mater and his friends in song and celebration for the festive day.

Sally and Lightning huddled close together singing in harmony, with Mater and Holley as well as Flo and Ramone doing the same. It wasn't long before Christmas carols were over and everyone parted ways to enjoy their well deserved day off to celebrate the joy of Christmas.

The engaged couple were about to part ways when they heard the sound of a jingling chain above them. They both looked up and saw Mater's tow cable holding piece of mistletoe above the two of them. Lightning and Sally chuckled in delight of Mater's humour and approached each other for a heartfelt kiss. Mater awed in delight before he heard Holley seeking his attention, the tow truck turned and saw Holley looking up at the hanging mistletoe off the power line; she smirked at him before her eyes lowered.

Mater approached his girlfriend with comforting eyes before they locked themselves in a kiss, now having Lightning and Sally aw in delight before they parted ways from one another.

They decided to spend a little time away from each other on Christmas day just to hang out with some of their other friends. Sally hung out with Guido and Luigi while Lightning hung out with Mack. It was a fun and eventful day for everyone, everyone had received presents and Guido had created a tower of tires to resemble a Christmas tree in which Mater hung up all sort of light up ornaments.

By the time night fell, Sally had received so many gifts for the expected new car as well as a few gifts for her home; similar presents were given to Lightning also. Everyone had received gifts that they were definitely going to enjoy.

Everyone was parked at the Wheel Well Hotel enjoying the view and their dinner; Lightning and Sally admired the view while reflecting back on their memories.

"Can you believe how much you've changed everything?" Sally asked to Lightning in a dreamy tone.

Lightning hummed with a smile, taking in the small glow over Radiator Springs. It all seemed like yesterday he crashed into town, it was amazing how quick time could fly. And now, here he was. Lightning McQueen, Piston Cup champion, World Grand Prix champion, engaged and about to become a father. Years ago he would never see himself with all these achievements and how proud they made him feel.

It was an amazing experience; he turned to Sally slightly in thought of the little car on its way. "And I can't wait to see our little car set its tiny wheels on the ground." He said admiringly, nuzzling Sally's fender.

Not long later they were interrupted by Mater's overexerted laugh; they both turned to see Guido doing tricks again with the drinks, making them fly into the air and land perfectly neat and clean on the table, even making Holley gasp in amazement.

"Wow, we should consider hiring you for the team. You're amazing." Holley complimented, her eyes widened in Guido's moves.

Luigi heard this from the bar and sped out before Guido could reply, his expression showing deep worry. "No, you can't let him go out there on his own? He needs 'a me." He cried, his lips pouting.

Holley chuckled, knowing from her few years out in the field she had only come close to death on a few occasions, but as she thought about it more, it did seem dangerous.

"I totally understand your concern, I know I've been close to death a few times myself but I pulled through." Holley assured with a smile, making Mater aw in response.

"That's right Holley." A car added as he drove into the conversation. "I've been out on the field for decades and I'm still here alive and well. Someone like you would be great to have on the team; you have great handy skills there." Finn complimented, gesturing to Guido's forklift arms.

Guido smiled in glee, thanking Finn in Italian. "Grazie." He said before driving off.

Lightning and Sally turned back to each other, both having the same thoughts about Guido being a part of the spy team. "That does sound interesting for Guido." Lightning stated, taking another glance at Finn, Holley and Mater all now chatting to each other.

Sally chuckled, making her hood shake a little. "Yes, but we need Guido down here more. And although Mater goes on those missions we know he's safe and he'll be back." Sally assured, smiling up at Lightning.

"Yeah." Lightning replied, before turning back to the view for the rest of the night.

As the moon rose higher in the sky, everyone parted ways for the night, seeing how late it was. The moonlight lit the way for them all the way back home, making Lightning and Sally have a fun idea.

"Hey, let's drive without our headlights on." Sally suggested, snickering.

A quiet chuckle emitted from Lightning as he edged closer to Sally in playfulness. "I see what you mean." He said in a suggestive tone before he turned off his headlights.

Sally done the same, now they were in darkness, all apart from the moonlight bouncing off everything the light touched, making a beautiful blue hue across the horizon. Sally sped off first, prompting Lightning to rev his engine and speed after her.

As they drove past the waterfall, the water gave off a brilliant blue glow, making them both stop briefly to admire the beauty of nature before speeding off again, Sally cackling with laughter as she drove through the tunnel, making her laughter echo as Lightning entered, resulting in him doing the same just to hear his laugh echo.

The two exited the tunnel, Lightning revved his engine again before speeding up to Sally's side, making a kissing noise with his lips as he winked at her before speeding ahead, Sally smirked before she revved her engine and increased her speed.

With all this fun she was having she was glad it didn't affect the little car inside her, she had a feeling that in some way she was but she couldn't feel any pain or anything being thrashed around so she knew the little car was doing alright. She couldn't wait to speed alongside the little one, with the little car in between Lightning and herself, showing a very happy family.

She was caught in the moment, not long before she heard Lightning's engine being revved again that she was taken back to reality and increased her speed to match Lightning's, prompting the two to race each other back into town. The moon was bright enough to cast shadows and lead the way back home without the aid of headlights. The light trickled through the trees, making small spots of glowing light make a mesmerising pattern on the road.

The wind was still and the night was clear, a perfect way to end Christmas.

Eventually they made their way back into town and before they reached the main road they slowed down to quieten themselves around the neighbourhood; they cruised down the main road towards their home, not another car in sight. They knew it must have been really late for no one to be out on the road.

So they entered their home and slept peacefully with their frames touching and the little car inside Sally moving around gently, assuring Sally that it was still alive after all that.

As the week carried on, more snow fell, making Sarge sell more snow ploughs as the roads became more blocked with snow. It was getting cold; the fuel that Flo and Fillmore had to sell had to be kept inside to keep it warm, meanwhile the most heated place was the town hall where Christmas carols were still being sung regardless of whether it was Christmas or not.

Sally continued to feel more movements inside her; she could tell that the little car was moving around a lot. She remembered from her oil check that when the little car was fully grown it wouldn't make her appear larger, only heavier in weight. She still had tired spells but was trying her hardest to not overwork her staff since they had no clue why Sally was sleeping in so much. But Lightning assured her that he would take care of everything for her if he really had to.

He was off season so it was only fair that he helped out Sally with her jobs working the motels while he wasn't racing. There would be a few days here and there where Lightning would go out just to burn some rubber or get some dirt in his wheels, even some of his racing pals would come just for a friendly race with him.

New Year's Eve had arrived; everyone was up at Wheel Well once again to celebrate the last event of the year to welcome in the New Year. Everyone was having drinks, all except for Sally because of her condition, Lightning decided to have only a few drinks just so he would still be having fun but not to the point where he wouldn't remember what he was doing.

Everyone was inside the motel; some were outside admiring the trickling of snow on their hoods as it gently snowed across the land. Inside the motel the TV was on to the news channel where they were updating with how long was left until the countdown.

The night was cold, but everyone was warm and happy, all enjoying their drinks with the exception of Sally who didn't mind, and the warmth of the lights keeping them all warm inside.

"It's a great night to start the New Year." Sally stated as she looked up at her fiancé.

Lightning turned, admiring how cute Sally looked with the earmuffs over her. "Yes, it really is." He ended, before making his smile grow as he continued. "And it's a great year to welcome that certain someone into our lives." He said with a wink.

And then the countdown began, ten seconds left until the New Year began. All chanted at the same time the numbers ten through to one until they all shouted the number zero ad cheered. All the loving couples nuzzled each other's side and gave a New Year's kiss to one another, with Lightning and Sally in the middle of it all kissing romantically as everyone partied around the two.

Sally was beginning to feel dizzy as the music and all the cars around her sounded louder than usual; she knew what this was and knew that she had to get outside into the quietness to calm her mind down. She signalled to Lightning who quickly made a gap through the crowd so she could get into the cool and quiet air.

She breathed in relaxation as the two were now outside where it was much quieter, there were a few other cars around but most were huddled around the warmth of the inside of the motel. Lightning and Sally drove up to the edge as Sally began to take deep breaths of the cool air as the snowflakes glistened through the air, tickling her almost when they landed on her.

It was an amazing sight, and a great way to start the New Year, aside from beginning to get a migraine the New Year had been great so far for Sally. Both she and Lightning knew that this year was going to be a very eventful year. They knew the saying of never seeing this happen by the end of the year, and in that moment it was definitely something they could say.

"Wow, I never thought at the start of the year that I'd be here engaged to you and about to become a father in less than three months." Lightning stated, amazed at how much things had changed in 365 days.

Sally nodded, agreeing deeply on Lightning's statement, knowing all so well that the events of the year that just went had changed her a lot too, the year ahead of them was going to be very eventful. So many things to be prepared for that they just couldn't wait to see happen.

By the time it was New Year's Eve again, they would be married and have a little car by their side celebrating New Year's with them. Neither of them could wait for those two special events to happen. This New Year was going to be a milestone of a year.

"I know, I can't believe it either, but just think...this time next year things will definitely be a lot different." Sally reminded, pulling out from her parking spot right before she felt the little car move inside her again.

Lightning turned, knowing one hundred percent what Sally meant, and awed as soon as he saw the small bump that quickly disappeared and made Sally's frame look normal again. The movement to show that it was alive made it all the more exciting for them to see the little car driving around and sharing the traits that both Lightning and Sally had. They were incredibly lucky to be able to experience something like this.

So as the night went on, Sally closed up the motel for the night so that everyone would go home for the night and rest. She could see so many empty glasses and knew that many of them would be going home a little tipsy; she knew Lightning drank but saw that he didn't drink that much to the point of himself sounding tipsy. It was only enough to still make him appear and sound normal.

The two drove home for the night, taking it easy as Sally could still feel a slight migraine from the big party; she knew it was a side effect of having a little growing car inside her so it was no surprise. Lightning took this time to admire the snow falling slowly around them, sparkling as the half moon shone slightly through the thick clouds, emitting a shaded light that was only enough to outline the horizon.

So both drove home steadily with their headlights on this time, knowing that Lightning had a few drinks and Sally was still feeling dizzy it was more than necessary for the two of them to drive home slower than usual. Luckily, this gave them some time to reflect more on the year that just passed and what more was to come from the New Year.

"It was such an amazing year." Lightning stated, admiring the scenery as they drove past the waterfall.

Sally agreed, humming in thought. "I can't wait till February. January will be our quiet month, but definitely the two months after they will be an exciting and stressful ride." Sally explained, hinting at the stress that was going to be involved.

Lightning widened his eyes for a moment the second she said stress, her parted his lips slightly as they continued to drive, he felt confused and worried when she said that.

"Wait what? Stressful?" He asked, thinking he didn't hear straight.

Sally smirked at her clueless fiancé, who was obviously not seeing the balance, she giggled at the thought. "There's always that balance Lightning. We can't just have the good things but don't take it too personally. Everything will work out fine." She assured him.

 **And that's all on this Chapter. I just wanted this one to get the two main annual events out of the way so I can just focus on the wedding and the new car. I can actually see the ending a lot sooner...maybe Chapter 23? I'm not entirely sure yet but I hope to wrap this story up soon. ^^**

 **So, again if I don't update on Friday (like I did with this Chapter), it's because I'm busy but I promise I'll update when I can. ;) See you all soon for Chapter 20! :D**


	20. The Wedding Part 1

**Yay long weekend! But I'm probably going to waste it like I do whenever I have more free time...but anyways, I can really see the ending happening very soon for this story which is awesome and sad at the same time...I remember when I first got this idea as a FanFiction months ago, I had almost 8 Chapters written in advance before I decided to upload it. It was because I was unsure of a clear plotline, but then I just went with what I dream of happening in Cars 3, but it probably won't anyway...**

 **So anyways, I know what I have left to go to finish up this story, I just have to make sure I don't space it out too much or make it seem too rushed. I think Chapter 24 will be the last Chapter. I won't tell you my exact plans but that's what I'm aiming for. ;)**

 **Well, enjoy Chapter 20 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 20 – The Wedding Part 1**

As the second month of winter carried on, the snow continued to fall lightly against the rock hard desert ground. Everyone was wrapped up in earmuffs and all had suitable snow tires to wear on the slightly slippery roads. Meanwhile every morning just to do something, Lightning decided to be in charge for ploughing any huge amounts of snow off the roads for the other drivers.

It was too cold and slippery too do any racing practice anywhere, plus last time he tried in winter his wheels tightened and almost froze to make him flip, but luckily they didn't. So he decided to keep off racing for a while to help Sally and his friends out around town. He was glad during that whole first month of the year he didn't get any calls from Harv or any word from Mack about having to leave town for something.

Every morning Lightning would wake up first next to a still asleep Sally, and he would go out to plough if there was snow blocking the roads, then he would have his own breakfast while also giving Sally her breakfast at their own house fresh from Flo's. Sally would wake up to her fiancé serving her breakfast; she was beginning to enjoy her sleep-ins because she never got to do them often. She only hoped that with the time she and Lightning had planned the wedding to be she would be able to wake up early and be prepared in time.

As another day would go on, Lightning would help around town and do the occasional prank with Mater from time to time, he checked on Sally every so often just to make sure she and the little car were doing fine. Meanwhile every day, Sally would feel her axles tighten from the extra weight she was carrying plus the cool change in temperature, her nauseous sickness had lessened over this month so she was able to keep her lunch down more frequently.

She had gone for checkups to make sure that both she and the little car were doing alright, but with the limited equipment they had there they could only do so much. They were able to perform an x-ray however, and it was able to detect the structural frame of the little car inside her. Both Lightning and Sally were in awe when they saw how it looked, although it still had a little over two months to go it seemed like it already had possessed some of the physical features from both parents.

They didn't want to know the gender yet, they wanted it to be a surprise, as this new car itself was a big surprise at first. It was only fair that they keep that a surprise too, so any toys they would get, or a suitable car crib for it would be gender neutral.

That little car continued to make subtle movements while Sally worked around the two motels, it didn't get to the point where it was annoying, but it was beginning to feel more rough and a little more difficult to hide as the little car was making Sally's frame have indents and sometimes small bumps that would disappear over a short time. She stayed more behind the front desk of her two motels while she had her staff and Lightning on occasions to help do the work for her.

Both she and Lightning understood how they had to keep this hidden from the public until after their wedding; they knew that there would be serious questioning and judging if they told anyone. They knew they could trust it with their friends, they wouldn't tell anyone.

They did get worried about telling Mater but knew how serious he was when he swore not to tell anyone. Meanwhile, Holley had come down for a couple of visits to see Mater for a date and also check things out around town and hang out with the town folk. She had asked Mater to come with her on another mission but Mater decided he wanted to park this one out.

So as the days travelled on, so did the progression of wedding plans and preparation for the new car that was due near the end of March. The night before their wedding, both Lightning and Sally had a night out with their friends apart just to have some fun before the wedding would happen.

Lightning had given the press a date for the wedding, but he knew Sheriff and his reinforcements would be able to keep them out of the court room. However they hadn't thought much about what they were going to do as a honeymoon, they were thinking of staying up at Wheel Well for a few nights just to ease off the stress before they became official parents.

But Flo had something much more fun and relaxing for the two, it was a place she and Sally had driven past from their one week trip away from home and work. She knew that the pair was going to love it. It was Flo's wedding present to them.

For Sally's party with her girlfriends, Holley had come into town to celebrate, there was only Sally, Flo and Holley but they didn't mind. The three girls enjoyed spending some fun times together. Meanwhile Lightning was hanging out with Mater, Finn, Mack, Harv and some of his other Radiator Springs friends. He and his friends had a fun jokey time having drinks up at Wheel Well, and all the guys gave at least one teasing joke to him about him getting married tomorrow, meanwhile Sally was getting a similar treatment from Holley and Flo.

It was a night that was cut short as they all had to be up bright and early so everything would happen on time. So at around 10pm they all parted ways to their homes to get some rest before the big day. Lightning and Sally met each other at home and smiled thoughtfully at each other, both thinking about how important the next day was going to be for them.

"We're getting married tomorrow." Lightning stated, enthusiastic and excited at the thought, but too tired to express it.

"I know...it's hard to believe we'd be here after so many years..."

Lightning chuckled in response as he saw that Sally took their moments together like decades instead of hours. He knew how much Sally valued her time with him. "Sally...it hasn't even been a decade yet." He reminded, winking at her as they both drove inside.

A sigh emitted from Sally's parted lips as she thought of all those times she and Lightning spent together. She was overjoyed once they moved in together. It was rather silly to be boyfriend and girlfriend when one of them sleeps inside a cone and the other works there.

So living in a house together was a perfect choice, they weren't going to live anywhere else but there together. And now the house was going to have another little set of wheels driving around in it. And both Sally and Lightning couldn't wait for that day. They were both over the moon about their wedding happening tomorrow and by the end of next month their new car would be born. Those next two months were going to be the most memorable months of their lives.

"Goodnight." Lightning softly whispered, as they parked next to each other on the soft mat, nuzzling against each other.

Sally hummed as she felt herself relax. "Goodnight." She breathed, before her eyes closing on her, falling asleep almost within an instant.

That night the two of them slept peacefully, they had no interruptions, and Sally didn't have to use the bathroom for a change. Things were definitely looking way up from this point onwards. They both had pleasant dreams about the past and future, most past dreams of which Lightning had because of how much change he had been through over the past five years, if he didn't push Mack to his limits he would not be here sleeping next to his very soon to be future wife. And Sally was dreaming more of the future, she dreamt of her and Lightning together on the beach playing and messing around with each other as she brushed some sand into Lightning's mouth.

They were both excited and couldn't wait for the next day. They were expecting a peaceful and quiet morning before they had to part ways before the ceremony, but as the sun started to rise, there was a loud knock on their door.

Lightning and Sally both jumped a little in surprise, feeling startled from their pleasant dreams as reality kicked in. Lightning made his way to the door while Sally stretched her tires and yawned loudly, feeling the tiredness ache through her as she slowly adjusted to her waking life.

"Flo? You're here early." Lightning stated, raising an eyelid before Flo zoomed right past him.

"No time to waste, Ramone's expecting you at the shop in ten minutes, you better get moving missy!" Flo exclaimed, racing to a very sleepy Sally, she quietened her tone as she saw the dazed and tired look on her best friend. "Look, I know you're still tired, but don't you worry. I'll get you some strong breakfast to wake you up." She assured her.

Sally rose from her sleeping spot for a moment, her eyes still blurry but could make out the two figures before her. She nodded before her eyes adjusted and she could see Flo and Lightning looking at her. Before she drove off with Flo to get ready, the realisation of excitement hit her with a gasp.

"It's my wedding day..." She breathed, her eyes widened at the sudden realisation.

A soft chuckle emitted from Lightning's mouth. "It's our wedding day Sally." He corrected.

Flo nodded in a hurry, quickly gently pushing Sally with her tire to get her moving. "Yep, so come on now Sally. You don't want to be late!"

Then, they all heard another knock on the door, but a much smaller sounding knock. Lightning turned first to see that Luigi was at his door with an excited grin.

"Come on now Lightning!" Luigi said, his Italian accent caressing every word he spoke. "Let's fit you out with some new tires for today!" He exclaimed excitedly, almost bouncing off the ground before Guido appeared behind him.

Lightning chuckled in laughter as he saw the excitement written all over them, he turned to Sally who was now driving slowly towards the door with an anxious best friend who only wanted Sally and him to have the best wedding day of their lives. They left the house first, Sally and Lightning sharing one last glance before their next meeting would be in the courtroom in their amazing new looks just for this special occasion.

He couldn't wait to see how Sally looked; he followed Guido and Luigi outside and followed them towards their tire shop to get some new tires fitted. He had decided on wearing whitewalls like he did when they shared their first true embrace; it was going to be a lovely reminder of what came to be.

Meanwhile while Lightning was getting his tires fitted on, he could see Sally and Flo briefly make their way into Ramone's shop before they disappeared inside. Lightning was getting excited and almost jumpy just thinking about how Sally would look, but he knew he wouldn't be able to see what she looked like until she was driving down the aisle.

The race car sighed heavenly as Guido put the last of the whitewall tires on. Lightning drove up to the mirror and a wave of nostalgia came across him. It brought him back to that extra day he spent in town just to relax with the townsfolk. It was a very memorable day, a day that was just as important as the day he was going to have today. He hadn't even thought beyond today what would be happening. He and Sally had planned to go to Wheel Well because of their strong memories from that place, but he felt like they could go somewhere even better, he wasn't sure where any place better would be but he had a feeling.

A moment later, he drove out and then a few fans of his screamed in excitement as they saw him wearing the whitewalls, they immediately knew what was going on.

"You're getting ready!?" One of the girl fans screamed in excitement.

"Oh I wish I was your bride to be, but Sally's an amazing choice!" Another fan girl cried, a smile and tears of happiness appeared on her.

Lightning smiled sheepishly as he watched the fans admire his whitewall tires, he was looking forward to his next stop, which was at Fillmore's to take some relaxing organic fuel to lighten his tank but still make him not have that hungry feeling midway through the ceremony.

As he drove off, he thanked his fans and warned them not to say anything to Sally if they were to bump into her. They all knew that they weren't allowed to see each other before the ceremony started, so they all nodded in agreement, giving a serious expression just to show how committed they were into keeping it a secret. Then Lightning drove down to Fillmore's for the fuel.

In all the meanwhile, Sally could feel the little one kicking around in there as Sally held her breath for as long as she could while Ramone sprayed the silver paint across her frame. He knew he had to be quick about it as these fumes could be harmful for the little car. So as soon as he was done he quickly opened the door and allowed Sally to take a breath of fresh air.

While she breathed outside the spray paint scented room, Ramone pulled up a mirror so she could see how she looked in her new coat of paint. Her eyes shrunk as she saw that the only thing blue on her now were her eyes, her lips caressed into a smile as she looked at Ramone adoringly, who also shared a similar look.

"Lightning is going to love you more with my touches." Ramone added, proud of his work.

The silver paint across Sally's frame shone against the light, some lighter areas around her front to make a gradient effect, it gave more depth to her overall paint job. The individual particles of the pain twinkled in the light, creating an amazing and stunning look for her.

It was then that Flo drove in and her first immediate response was speechless, she awed as she saw how beautiful Sally looked in a silver gradient colour. "Sally...you look amazing!" She cried, her eyes watery as her smile widened.

Sally could feel herself blushing at that fact, she knew she looked amazing, but it made her feel incredibly modest when someone else called her that, especially someone like Flo or even Lightning for that matter.

Not long later, Flo had given her some nice fuel to get her through the day and to make sure Sally didn't feel hungry later, but she was a little unsure because the little car needed food as well. It was then that she and Flo met up with Holley at Flo's place to fix up the last touches to Sally.

In all the meanwhile, everyone else was getting prepared for the wedding. The courtyard already had boundaries put up so only special guests could enter, there was already press there eagerly wanting to get in but Sheriff denied their access, as this wedding was going to be more private than most celebrity's weddings. However they did allow only once news crew to go inside and that was the news channel that talked about nothing more than racing and looking into the lives of the racers.

They had just over an hour before Lightning and Sally would finally see each other eye to eye. Everyone was glad that today it didn't snow, since the start of February it had been snowing only once a week and it was very light. It was a strong indication that spring was just around the corner. The roads weren't slippery and already there were cars waiting just being the boundaries of the Radiator Springs Court waiting anxiously and excitedly, looking forward to seeing Lightning and Sally come out after their ceremony as husband and wife. It was truly going to be an amazing day.

Lightning was now at Ramone's getting his unique paint job done, it was a mix of his own racing colours blended with some black and white. He still had a fiery gradient lightning strike on both sides of him but the rest of him was black and white with no sponsors or his racing number on his sides. He knew Sally was going to love the look, it was the similar look of when he got his first paintjob from Ramone just to impress Sally; he knew more than ever that she was going to be gasping as she drove down the aisle.

As he looked in the mirror, he could hear Ramone admiring his work. They both knew it was an amazing yet cool design for a wedding paint job. It made Lighting recognisable but yet formal at the same time. He knew his fans were going to freak when they saw him, but he bet that a lot of the fans would be photographing Sally just as much in her new look.

Neither of the pair could wait any longer to see each other and become husband and wife. They knew that by the end of the day they would be joined in marriage and then they could be more open about the little car. It was a very exciting day that was only just beginning.

It wasn't long later that the Radiator Springs townsfolk were all situated in the courtroom, a minister at the front to wed them, Mater by Lightning's side as the tow truck continued to look over at Holley in admiration. Holley blushed slightly as she could see his hazel green eyes looking straight at her.

Lightning knew that this was the moment; it was only minutes away before the double doors would open and then Sally would come down the aisle most possibly looking more beautiful than ever. Sally imagined opening the doors to see everyone looking at her in awe as she saw her husband to be in his new look.

This was definitely a day they weren't going to forget.

 **So I decided to split this into two parts because I know how much detail I can put into very important events like this. I'll try and not to add too much to draw attention away from the actual story. Actually after writing this chapter, I've thought out the last few chapters. I can be more than certain that it will end with 2 chapters, however I was thinking of an epilogue. You'll understand why more later. For now I have Part 2 of this wedding to write by Friday (or later if things get busy), so I'll see you all soon! ^^**


	21. The Wedding Part 2

**Well, this story doesn't have much left to go, I can't believe how far this story has gone in such short amount of time...I know I uploaded the first chapter at the end of October, plus I had almost eight chapters already finished in advance...the time just seems to fly by quicker nowadays, I must be enjoying my life because they say the fun moments make time go quicker. ;)**

 **Anyways, this is part 2 of the wedding, and then I have a couple other things in mind before I wrap this story up. Hopefully you'll like it! ^^**

 **Enjoy Chapter 21 of What Happens Next! :D**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 21 – The Wedding Part 2**

After a few more minutes, the classical wedding music echoed through the room, everyone turned to face the closed doors, which slowly opened and made Lightning's mind go completely déjà vu.

It was just like when he first saw her, parked briefly in the sparkling light before driving down the hall. It was a memory that he'll never forget, their first meeting would never be forgotten, even if it was slightly humorous to reflect on, the most important and crucial part to that memory was his moment of astonishment as his breath was taken away by Sally's beauty.

The way she looked at the end of the hall was more breathtaking when he first saw her shimmering in the light, Lightning was grateful that the weather was perfect to caress the shining silver paint on his future wife, the veil over her eyes making her blue eyes disappear under the white transparent cover, Lightning knew it would only be moments that he would get to see those amazing heavenly eyes behind that veil against the rest of her appearance, it was almost all in her beautiful blue eyes.

Sally drove very slowly down towards the end of the hall as the music continued to play in the background. She looked at her future husband, he looked at her. It was a very mutual and breathtaking moment that they had been waiting for so long, neither of them expected it so soon, but with a small kick from the inside, Sally was reminded as to why she was getting married so soon.

Luckily no one noticed the small bump before it quickly moulded back into her regular frame, they were all captured by Sally's amazing and original bridal appearance. Lightning especially was the most captivated by her stunning appearance, her silver paint seem to reflect off the bright sunlight emitting through the windows, almost making her glow like an angel.

It was definitely a moment they were going to remember for the rest of their lives. Everyone else too was captivated by the scene, the expression Lightning held, the appearance of the bride made the wedding amazing before it even really started.

Then, Sally made herself all the way down the aisle and parked next to her very soon to be husband, they both shared a dreamy glance as they admired how they both looked in their new paint job and attire, they had never seen each other like this before, it was something they could only dream of. Sally would never expect to see Lightning look like this on their wedding day, but she loved his signature appearance that made him still look like a race car but at the same time like someone waiting for their soul mate to be an even stronger part of their lives.

After one last glance, Sally flicked her veil up to reveal her glistening blue eyes, Lightning was utterly speechless as Sally's appearance only made him feel overwhelmed in her beauty, he felt like he was lost for words. He had never seen Sally look so amazing in all the time he spent with her.

And what made the moment all so exciting, was the reason why they were getting married so soon in the first place. It wouldn't be long that another extremely memorable moment was to occur; they knew it would take a bit of hard work to get there, but they knew in the end it would all be happy, just like they were now.

The ceremony began, the minister who was parked in front of the pair, gave an introduction to the wedding, introducing both the bride and groom to the audience. Lightning and Sally couldn't stop admiring how each other look, both of them felt deep eternal love for each other that felt like their love was only tightened more by this very special moment.

"Today will forever be remembered as the joining of Lightning McQueen and Sally Carrera. Love is a powerful emotion, rising against the others, always strong and unbreakable. Marriage is the bonding of this love, forever locking it in place, keeping the love forever strong." The minister declared, smiling at the couple, while also looking around at the audience.

It wasn't long after the introduction of marriage and love that now Lightning and Sally had to exchange vows.

"And now the couple will exchange their own vows. Lightning you will start first." The minister implied, looking directly at McQueen.

Lightning cleared his voice with a small cough before he began, taking a deep breath as he looked up at his bride. Looking at her like this was going to be the death of him, she was so beautiful in her shining silver paint and her blue eyes as they shone in the sunlight, making her glow. He was almost breathless when Sally's smile seemed to grow even more adoringly that he almost couldn't handle it, but with gentle words, he began to speak his vows.

"Sally, as soon as you walked through those doors today, I was immediately reminded of how we met, it wasn't the best meeting, but I knew right away that you were the one I was looking for. When you turned me down I was furious and hurt, but when I realised my ways, I understood more about how much you love this town, and how much you started to care about me. Ever since then I have never stopped loving you, I know you stress yourself out to the max and always say you don't need my help, but I assure you that I will always be there for you, even when I'm racing. When I first met you, I could already feel the change, and now I am more changed than ever. Sally, I thank you so much for helping me become a better car. There's no one else I care about more than you." He said with caring words as he saw Sally's eyes fill with tears after every sentence he spoke, he too feeling tears engulf his eyes.

There was a break in silence before a small applaud of Lightning's vows, they had never heard such amazing and caring words from a car like this, he truly had changed his ways. Sally whispered a thank you as her eyes swelled with tears of loving joy. She had never heard Lighting speak words so truly honest and loving; she could truly tell that he was the one for her.

Sally now grew worried that her vows wouldn't be able to top Lightning's, she felt that his vows were so memorable and romantic that she felt it put her vows to shame, and she could tell that by some it he had just made up. It was amazing how Lightning's mind work. She was truly proud with how far he's come since he first crashed into town.

"Wonderful. Sally, your turn to speak your vows." The minister implied, turning to Sally with a smile.

Sally felt the nervousness overwhelm her, but she knew that her words were going to be meaningful even if they weren't as powerful and loving as Lightning's were. She took in a deep breath and looked up at her very soon husband to be.

"That day I saw you, I never wanted to see you again. You ruined what I loved and didn't care for it, but I watched you change. And I know that I was a big part of that change. You didn't have to stay another day; you could've left and let all your racing dreams come true. But instead you chose to stay another day, and make everyone happy, and I know you did it all especially for me. Ever since that day I knew you were someone special to me, almost every time you left town for your racing I knew I gave you the confidence to do your best, and although there were times where I was worried you'd crash, you always pulled through. I know racing was the most important thing in your life when you crashed into town, but now I see that I'm the most important part of your life. And I can see no one else being that more important to me than you Lightning, I love you." Sally spoke, Lightning's smile becoming more adoring with each word she spoke, she could tell that her words meant so much to him from the tears in his eyes.

A louder round of applause was heard from the audience, Sally gasped and turned slightly to see that her vows truly meant something to everyone, she felt honoured and loved. It was truly an amazing and touching moment she wouldn't forget.

"Truer words never spoken." The minister added, closing his eyes and smiling at Sally's adoring words to Lightning.

Not long later, it was time for the hubcaps to be installed on both the couple. The minister announced the next part of the ceremony before Guido came into view with all the new hubcaps in his forklift arms. He proceeded to take off the hubcaps that Lightning and Sally already had on and placed the new ones off, signifying their marriage to each other.

"Lightning McQueen, do you take Miss Sally Carrera to be your lawfully wedded wife?" The minister asked.

Lightning looked at Sally, there was no way he would marry anyone else except for her. He couldn't imagine his life without her; she meant so much to him that he couldn't live without her. "I do."

The minister turned to Sally, all the hubcaps now fully installed on the both the couples' tires. "And do you Sally Carrera; take Lightning to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Tears engulfed her eyes as she stared into his blue eyes, she never dreamed of this day happening, but she knew that when she fell in love with him that their marriage to each other would be inevitable. She couldn't love anyone more than she loved Lightning. "I do."

The minister nodded with a smile, before he announced the words everyone had been waiting for. "I now present you as husband and wife, you may kiss."

And with that, Lightning sped to Sally's lips as fast as lightning and sealed their marriage with a passionate kiss. It made them both melt into it as they were unable to break apart, so after the applause died down; they felt it was necessary that they broke apart. They both turned to face the crowd with a loving grin.

"Ladies and gentle cars, may I present to you: Mr and Mrs McQueen." The minister announced proudly, before cheers and applause echoed through the room, causing the couple to feel ever so modest.

They both drove down the aisle together smiling at the crowds, the one news crew that was filming it all was now reporting back to the news room, from what Lightning and Sally could hear, they knew it was all positive words.

The doors opened and Lightning and Sally were in full view of the crowds that weren't allowed in, many cheers arose and cameras flashed at the wedded couple, the security officers ensured that none of them swarmed over them.

It was later that day that they all went to the reception for dinner and toasts. Several were made from Mater, Flo, Holley, Mack and Ramone and Flo together, and they all said loving words that meant so much to Lightning and Sally. They knew that this was going to be a day that they sincerely would never forget.

Not long later, they were going to make their way up to the Wheel Well Motel for their honeymoon, they weren't expecting someone to call out to them.

"Wait a minute you two!" A voice called, causing the pair to turn around.

Flo came in full view with a bright and excited expression. She smirked before they all heard the sound of a jet flying nearby, getting closer and closer. Everyone looked up to see Siddley flying about before he landed just outside the town hall, making Lightning and Sally clueless as to why he was there.

"You two aren't going to Wheel Well." She stated firmly, before she smiled brightly and gestured her wheel to the jet. "You two are going to the beach!" Flo announced, making many other cars gasp in shock and excitement, but most of all it made Lightning and Sally gasp with pure excitement.

Sally's eyes grew watery, it was what she truly wanted, when she was away on her weeklong trip she only wanted to spend perhaps a day or two with Lightning at the beach, she'd never expect that place to end up being her honeymoon with Lightning. She knew that it was truly going to be exciting and romantic; she couldn't wait to get there.

She drove up to Flo and nuzzled her side, in thanking her for the very kind gesture.

"Thank you Flo, that was so generous of you!" She cried, with tears of happiness.

Flo admired Sally's praise, before she gently shoved her off in reminder that she and Lightning had to go asap. Lightning approached Flo and couldn't be happier that she done all she could to make their honeymoon as loving and as memorable as possible.

"Consider it as my wedding present to you two, Holley helped also." She added, with Holley driving up to them.

"I hope you two have a wonderful week." Holey said, smiling.

Lightning smiled admiringly to Flo, extremely grateful for her kind gesture. "Thank you, it is definitely what we want and more." He added, before he and Sally waved goodbye to everyone else.

Mater sped up to the couple with tears in his eyes from the uncontrollable sobbing. "Goodbye you two!" He cried between sniffles. "Congratulations you two." He mumbled with a smile and tears streaming down him.

The couple smiled at the crying to truck, whom he had stated before that he always cries at weddings. They laughed quietly together before saying their final goodbyes and driving onto the jet.

Siddley took off moments later, his engines blowing the dust off into the distance as the cars on the ground waved goodbye to the couple and Siddley. The jet took off and flew at his highest speed to get the couple to their destination as quickly as possible.

It wasn't long now that they would be at their new honeymoon destination; they were both truly looking forward to enjoying the next week at the beach together as a now married couple.

Neither of them could believe it, they were both officially married. And although for a couple like them they seemed to be the kind that would never get married but always stay together, it seemed now like marriage only made their relationship stronger and made everyone else think that these two were very much unbreakable, and that was a true fact.

"Wow, I can't believe it now. We're married." Lightning stated, looking out the window before turning back to his new wife.

Sally blushed and smiled shyly, feeling like their love had only gotten stronger after those vows, she didn't think their love and care for each other would grow stronger but it did. She felt like she was millions and millions of miles away from ever stoping their relationship from growing stronger. She didn't even think it could grow stronger but it did.

"I know, and with something else coming along very soon." She hinted, her eyes gesturing to the back of her.

Lightning turned to her slightly, not long before the little car inside Sally made another kick. Both of them were extremely grateful for the little one not disturbing their wedding ceremony at all, they knew it wasn't going to be a mischievous car if it behaved this well already. They knew it could hear them, because whenever Lightning spoke to it, it would respond with a small kick, making Sally's frame pop out of place before it would bounce back to its original shape.

They nuzzled each other as the sunset created an orange pink hue across the horizons through their window, the setup inside Siddley was very extravagant and romantic, they could tell that most of the spy equipment had been packed away temporarily just for this occasion as they could see coverings on it all in one corner of the room.

"This is all so exciting; I can feel that this year is going to be the best year of my life." Lightning stated with a heavenly sigh as he leaned into his wife.

"Me too, I can't wait for our family to begin." Sally added, smiling lovingly at her new husband.

Lightning turned to Sally with a raised eyelid and a smirk, before he lowered his eyes in a romantic gaze. "Sally, it's already begun." He ended, sealing Sally's lips with a passionate kiss.

This kiss lasted longer than their first as a married couple, as now it was just them on their way to their honeymoon with no one watching them. Lightning almost moved Sally across the room with his constant passionate kissing, Sally could almost feel the pleasure building up to her, and she felt like she was going to explode with excitement.

For some reason, their kisses now seemed all more fulfilling and romantic than before they were married, they knew it was because of each other's loving vows and the whole wedding ceremony going off perfectly.

So as the sun continued to set, the newly wedded couple were on their way to their week long honeymoon. They knew that the next week was truly going to be exciting and romantic. Neither of them could wait until they could start.

 **So I have to make this chapter a little shorter not because I'm short on time but because it's a good place to end it. So now next chapter will be about the honeymoon but I have big plans that I know you guys will love. Hopefully I can post the next chapter on Friday because I have a long weekend during that time. If not then hopefully before Monday. So see you all soon for Chapter 22! ^^**


	22. An Unexpected Turn

**I can see it, the ending is almost here, but knowing how I write I might make it longer, but I'll try to wrap this up because this story has been going for a while and I wanna focus more on my other FanFic, plus I have ideas to write new ones and I don't want to be writing three FanFictions at once XD**

 **This story is still important to me, it's just that I've been working on this story for a while now (since end of October) and I feel like it's just about time to wrap it up. This isn't the last Chapter in case you're getting worried. I think the next Chapter will be the last one, and then maybe an Epilogue depending how I end it in the next Chapter, or I might extend it into another Chapter, we'll see.**

 **I never really plan these chapters out beforehand, a note you should've taken down awhile ago. ;) Enjoy Chapter 22 of What Happens Next! ^^**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 22 – An Unexpected Turn**

The evening grew even lovelier once the newlyweds reached the shores of the beach and the motel they were staying at. Sally still couldn't believe that Flo did this for them; she was such a helpful and generous friend. Lightning and Sally couldn't wait to just have fun around the beach, relaxing, playing around in the sand, sleeping in for hours, they knew it was going to be the best of fun.

So after Siddley left the pair for the week, the moon started to rise in the east and the sun long gone, with a hint of purplish blue across the sky as night time arose. The newlyweds had dinner on their way to the beach, so all they could think of doing was just relaxing for the rest of the night.

Their day was truly amazing and spectacular. They couldn't imagine it any other way. Lightning especially was gladder because now his public image wouldn't change and have a negative effect on everyone. And although in all honesty, Lightning didn't mind if other cars made the same mistake he and Sally did, it was only because of his public status that he'd rather hold up a good reputation to his fans and followers.

The pair changed into their sand tires with the help of their own personal assistant forklift who helped run the motel, and then they sped outside onto the sand. Lightning began to make doughnuts in the sand, making Sally reverse far back so sand wouldn't get into her eyes, she cackled with laughter as she watched her husband act like a little kid in the sand.

She wanted to join him, but worried that now she was in her later stages of development with the new car that it might be a bit risky to do things like what Lightning was doing at the moment in the sand. So she decided to relax herself and admire the waves crashing against the shore. Eventually Lightning joined her as the moon rose, creating a strong contrasting shadow against the almost glowing sand.

Sally took in a deep breath and sighed as she felt herself relax even more. "This is all I could ever want right now."

Lightning nuzzled her side, he could see from her expression that she was truly at peace with herself; she was truly happy and peaceful in that very moment. He was extremely glad to see Sally so content and happy with her life right now. Neither of them could believe that it was only going to get more exciting from here on out.

Soon it wouldn't be long that a tiny little car would be whizzing around the place and possibly making a mess out of everything it touched. But it was something both Lightning and Sally were definitely looking forward to. They were more looking forward to seeing what characteristics it had from both parents.

As the night went on, it grew colder, so the couple proceeded inside to their well heated room and went to sleep for the night.

The next day, Sally woke up fresh and early, she couldn't wait to start the new day with some excitement. All she wanted to do was spend some more time on the beach with Lightning, but this time in the warmth of the sun. Unfortunately she was the first to fall asleep and the first to wake up, so she waited around for her husband to wake up. It was around an hour later that Lightning finally woke up.

By that time, the two had been greeted by their friendly forklift assistant with a special serve of breakfast. Sally knew Flo really outdid herself with this wedding gift. Once she and Lightning got back home, she would be constantly thanking Flo for the extremely generous gift.

"Wow, this morning I'm greeted to my newly wedded wife and amazing breakfast." Lightning stated, smiling brightly before kissing Sally on the fender.

Sally smiled and blushed in response, she knew that by the end of this year she would be called by more than one name and be used to it by then. Right now it felt extremely strange to be called wife, even though more than six months ago she was only his girlfriend, now she was expecting to become a mother in just over a month and now she was a wife to Lightning.

Lightning couldn't believe it either, it was an amazing yet shocking turn of events that somehow made everything up to this point seem all too perfect for them, their hopes raised high from all the positivity radiating around them. Sally and Lightning were so glad that things turned out this way, and although things were rusty every now and then, they were glad that they had made it this far together and knew that they could keep this up for as long as they could.

A little while later, Sally and Lightning raced on the sand, Sally proved to drive faster on sand than Lightning did. He wasn't sure how she was better than him, seeing that he mastered to drive on dirt so sand wouldn't be much different, but in some ways it was, and somehow Sally was able to control her speed very well on the sand.

It excited the both of them, they loved it. Sally knew that speeding around wouldn't hurt the little one inside her, she was worried if she done any sharp, sudden turns that it would harm it. But after stopping again after a long straight race down on the sand, she panted softly before emitting a large gasp of relief. She never felt more relaxed and happy in her life. She wished this week would never end.

She sincerely hoped things were holding up at the motels back in Radiator Springs, she knew she had friends that she could count on to keep an eye on things while she was gone, she hoped no one questioned why she took so many breaks from work after she found out she was expecting. It worried her a little, and overall thinking about home worried her. But she knew it was something Flo didn't want her to be doing, so she shook it off her mind as she smirked at her panting husband approaching.

"How can you be better than me on sand? I can race on dirt tracks and win." Lightning boasted, amused and annoyed that he couldn't beat Sally on the sand.

Sally chuckled in delight, loving when she bet Lightning in any sort of fun race they done. "I think it's because I've better handling than you." She implied with a wink and a smirk.

Lightning huffed at her before smirking teasingly in response; he loved it when she bragged to him. It reminded of what he used to be like and it was always hilarious and sometimes embarrassing when Sally impersonated how he used to act.

So as the day carried on, the pair enjoyed the view of the beach, keeping their distance from the water, but brushing it against their sand tires every so often, making their tires tickle slightly in the sudden small splash from the waves. They both enjoyed lunch at a local cafe and spent the rest of the afternoon back at the motel, reminiscing about the days before they were married, reflecting on how far their relationship had come so far.

"Can you believe it? We're married now." Sally stated, trying to get used to that phrase.

Lightning hummed in reply as he dazed off into the loving vows Sally said to him from yesterday, her words were so loving and pure, he would never forget them. He knew that when he was in doubt of their relationship that he would just think back to those words she said to him and then he would remember how much Sally truly cared for him. Lightning knew Sally would do the same if their relationship were to ever take the wrong turn.

"I know, and in just over a month we'll be parents!" Lightning exclaimed excitedly, his smile widening as he looked at Sally, admiring her frame.

Then, Lightning raised an eyelid as he noticed something different on Sally's frame near the back of her body. It seemed larger than usual, and he clearly remembered that two nights ago it wasn't that big. It made him grow concerned while Sally grew confused and worried.

"What is it Lightning?" She asked, as Lightning approached the front of her.

"I think...that little car in you is growing fast...you're poking out now." He stated, gesturing with his tire to the near rear of her frame.

She approached the mirror and turned the back of herself more towards the mirror. She knew Lightning wasn't playing dirty with her, he was telling the truth, and she had grown bigger in the past couple of days. This was worrying, she hadn't researched much about a car growing out their frame; she worried that the little car would deform her frame and that when she would return home everyone would start to notice and then possibly even piece the puzzle together.

She gasped at her sudden new appearance, she didn't remember seeing this yesterday when she was getting spray painted for her wedding, even after the fact when she was having her veil put on. She still looked the same. It must have been fairly recent, and she knew it wasn't because of the nice breakfast she and Lightning had on top of their lunch, when cars ingested food they would never change shape unless they ate more than their own weight, which Sally was definitely sure she didn't eat that much.

It was definitely the little car doing this; Lightning was right with the assumption. But it concerned her deeply now that she was showing through, and it could be quite obvious to the public when they come back from their honeymoon in five to six days.

"I don't understand...how could that little car grow so big in just the span of a day? I wasn't poking out like this yesterday." She claimed, examining her entire frame to see how different it looked from different angles.

"I'm not sure, but maybe we shouldn't worry about it too much right now. We're on our honeymoon." Lightning reminded with an assuring smile.

Sally hummed as she looked down with a frown, she was deeply worried that something was up with the little car, but knew she didn't have anyone around the beach to ask about it. So she decided to keep it in the back of her mind while she and Lightning enjoyed the most of their second day at the beach, but their first full day.

The days carried on, Sally was still poking out from near her behind, but no one aside from their forklift assistant had seen her. They decided to stay more enclosed to their private area, just in case if someone were to spot Sally and make the connection within an instant. However they did spend most of their time outside around the beach, playing around in the sand, doing a few gentler races and making some small waves splash more as they crashed against their tires.

The sunset on their fifth day was extravagant, a few hanging clouds but they were furthest away from the glowing sunset. The pair was situated on the beach, enjoying their relaxing time watching the sun set for another fulfilling and positive day. Lightning and Sally's week had just been so happy and relaxing so far that it was almost like she was in a dream, sometimes she thought that she was dreaming, because of all the positive and happy vibes she was getting from being around her newly wedded husband and being around the place she really wanted to go to, it was almost too unbelievable for her half the time.

Sally and Lightning sighed simultaneously as they admired the setting sun, creating an orange hue as the last speckles of bright sunlight sparkled against the water further off into the distance, making the overall scene show contrast and a gradual change into the darkness of the clearing night sky.

"This is amazing." Sally stated in a very relaxed tone.

"I know." Lightning agreed, leaning closer in to Sally, almost as if he wasn't close enough to her.

Then, Sally felt a jolting move inside of her; it was almost too painful to bear. She grunted in pain as she suddenly moved from Lightning's side, causing him to deeply worry as his happiness and calm feelings were washed away with anxiety and concern.

"Sally, what's wrong?" He asked, as Sally turned away from him, her teeth grinding together as the jolting pain inside her grew more constant.

"I...don't...know...but it's...too painful to handle!" She cried between groans of pain as the sharpness of the jolts stung every part of her.

It couldn't be time, could it? No, it was way too soon for that! Sally thought in a sudden panic, realising that she was experiencing the symptoms of possible new car delivery. There was no way this was going to be happening over halfway through their honeymoon. But she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"What do you want me to do, call the doctor back home, Siddley to pick us up?" Lightning suggested, beginning to feel hot with deep panic and anxiety from the sudden turn of events.

Sally grunted again in pain, she decided to wait it out and see that it might just be the car growing bigger and moving around more than it used to. She shook her hood in response and decided to go inside, but by that time the sunset had already gone and night time had begun.

Lightning quickly followed his wife back inside the motel; they were both greeted by their friendly forklift personal assistant to be invited to a romantic dinner out on a ship out in the ocean. Lightning worried deeply that this would worsen Sally's pain by motion sickness, so while taking her needs incredibly seriously and not wanting her pain to get worse, he declined and requested for a quiet meal at home for the day.

Unfortunately, the pain continued throughout the night. Even while eating Sally had trouble keeping it down as the pain grew sharper at times, almost too much for her to keep at a low painful groan. Lightning only grew more antsy and panicky every time she screamed out in pain, it all seemed the more likely that it was time for that little car to come into the world.

But they were both having the same thoughts; it was just so soon for all this to be happening now. Lightning remembered when Sally told him she was expecting that it wasn't due until near the end of March. It was a little after mid February now, so this was earlier than planned if this pain is what they both hope it isn't.

"Call Flo, she might have an idea." She exclaimed, while trying to hold in the pain.

Lighting quickly sped over to the phone and dialled Flo's Cafe. It was answered by another staff member before Lightning requested to talk to Flo and eventually he got through to her.

"Well hello Lightning, how are you and Sally enjoying-"

Flo was cut off with Lightning's sudden panicky words. He was in too much panic to reply to Flo's greeting. "Hi, sorry Flo but I'm in deep worry because Sally may think it's time." He exclaimed in a panic, almost having his tires repeatedly step off the ground in anxiety.

Then, on the line, Flo could hear something being thrown towards the direction of the phone and then Sally yelling at Lightning about saying the wrong thing.

This made her raise alarm and concern immediately. "What's going on?" She asked, her worries rising. "How is Sally?" Flo added, worried for Sally.

Lightning bit his lip as he could see just how much pain Sally was in that just aggravating her slightly would be the worst. "Well, she's in a great deal of pain, and ever since a few days ago she started to poke out.' He explained nervously, keeping his eyes on Sally, hoping he said the right words this time.

Flo didn't need any more words to describe the situation they were dealing with, she knew exactly what it was and it made her grow into an intense amount of panic as she called out to Ramone. This was going to be it, she thought. It was definitely nothing else but it.

"Well...do you know what it is then?" Lightning asked, expecting Flo to have an answer.

"I do, but please stay as calm as possible about this." She assured, not wanting Lightning to get all panicky about the situation, however she already felt like it was too late for him to turn back. "It is time for Sally." She stated, the background noises dropping dead quiet so even Sally could hear those words.

Two simultaneous yells of shock were heard on the other side of the line, making Flo cringe in the sudden and drastic change in volume. "Okay, calm down. Ramone is going to contact Holley and hopefully she can get a hold of Siddley and he'll take you home asap." Flo explained, wanting the pair to stay relaxed.

So not long later, Ramone had gotten a hold of Holley and she was able to send Siddley towards the beach. In all the meanwhile, Flo was kept on the line to keep Sally calm while Lightning prepared their things, constantly trying to remain calm and keeping Sally as calm and relaxed as she could be.

They didn't want this to happen now. Of all times for this to happen, why choose the times when they were having a lovely honeymoon to themselves? Now it was going to be more screaming and pain from here on out until that little one was delivered. Everyone only hoped that Sally would be able to keep it in before they would get back home. She didn't want the delivery to be anywhere else but at home in Radiator Springs, it's what she and Lightning had planned to do.

It was all going too fast, she started to feel faint as the pain was starting to come too much, but then she felt herself become wide awake with full consciousness as Lightning rushed from room to room.

This was going to be a long night.

 **Oh boy what a Chapter man, okay the next Chapter could more than likely be the last Chapter, and then I may or may not write an epilogue depending on how I end the story. I have really enjoyed writing this story so far, and I hope you guys have to. But it's not over just yet! At least one more chapter to go and a possible epilogue, stay tuned for the last chapter around this time next week! ;)**


	23. A New Life

**You know...it's kind of weird...the other night I actually dreamt about this story...and I don't usually dream about the stories I write, basically it wasn't exactly the story but I was explaining to some random person how cars reproduce in the Cars universe, then after that it just started to not make any sense... XD**

 **So weird dreams aside...I was thinking to wrap this story a little sooner, I'll include the epilogue with this chapter, just so I don't have to come back to this story next week. Don't take it the wrong way, I love this story. It's just that I'd like to move on from it and make more stories ^^**

 **That does mean this chapter will be longer, probably another page or so because I usually do 4 and a half pages for most of my chapters. Well, enjoy the final chapter of What Happens Next! :D**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 23 – A New Life**

Sally was in so much pain, she didn't know what the pain would feel like, but all it was now was the feeling that her trunk was going to burst. Lightning wished that he could share the pain so she wouldn't be in so much pain, he felt like he was too lucky to not experience any pain while the love of his life did.

As soon as Siddley arrived, Lightning sped behind his wife and quickly pushed her into the jet, as soon as they were both in; Siddley closed the hatch and sped off into the sky.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Lightning assured, rubbing Sally with his tire in support.

Sally didn't realise there would be this much pain involved, she assumed that the doctors would be doing more work than she was. She tried to research this part but didn't expect it to happen so soon. She had a little ironic moment when she thought it was because of her and Lightning always being super speedy and racing against each other a lot. A smirk wanted to form but all Sally's mouth was doing was trembling in intense amounts of pain and anxiety.

"I didn't know this would happen..." Sally muttered under her breath, a small groan emitting out of her mouth shortly afterwards.

Lightning only wished he could do more, he had no idea what carrying a tiny car was like, it must have been exciting but at the same time a painful experience once someone reached the end of it all. He always thought that all cars were born in factories, but seeing what he and Sally had managed to create gave him hope.

"Sally, if I could I would share some of the pain with you...I can't see you in this much pain." Lightning exclaimed, nuzzling her side before he felt a jolt against his side, a bulge from Sally's side.

He winced in slight pain, relieved that he was feeling some form of pain but wished it was more for Sally's benefit. He could see from all the pain she was holding in that she was struggling to keep it together. The troubled race car turned to see glowing clouds zooming past the windows against the black sky, seeing that Siddley was going as fast as he could to get them back home before anything major would happen.

"Why now?" Sally cried, tears engulfing her eyes. "Why now!?"

Lightning could see nothing else but pain her eyes as Sally sobbed out in tears and grunts of pain, he felt so annoyingly lucky that he didn't get to feel any of this pain. Sally was right about questioning now for the little car to make its way into the world. Even though Sally questioned the timing, both she and Lightning had an idea of why the due date of the little car was going to be earlier than planned, but they didn't expect it to be more than a month early.

"Don't worry; it'll be all over soon." He assured, actually having no idea how long this was going to take.

Another few more minutes and Siddley landed as close as he could to the town, he landed behind a small block of land behind Flo's cafe, several of Lightning and Sally's friends were situated around the area, watching the jet land down carefully and quickly. Siddley quickly opened the hatch and not long after were the sounds of groans in pain as they saw the couple appear from the back of the jet, their friends immediately rushed to their side and assisted them into getting to the hospital as soon as possible.

From Sally's point of view, all she could see was a blur, her vision had gotten so blurry from the amount of pain she was experiencing plus the tears that came along with it, she could hear Flo and Lightning close by, many of her other local friends talking in the background as she was being gently pushed into the Radiator Springs hospital.

The bright lights from within the building made Sally's eyes wince in the sudden change of light intensity; she could constantly hear Flo and Lightning especially assuring her that everything was going to be alright. She felt like she should have read up more of this process sooner, she felt like it was going to be an awful long night at this stage.

Not long later, she, Lightning and Flo were in a room all to themselves, the others waited anxiously outside the room, hoping that everything was going to turn out alright. It was then that someone came into the room to explain what the process of delivery was.

"Mrs McQueen, the pain you're feeling is the feeling of that car inside you cramping up and wanting to come out, and since a trunk like yours is hard to budge open, that's why you're experiencing so much pain." The doctor explained, looking at his notes while he explained.

Flo knew only so much from seeing the pain in others when they were expecting, but knowing the reason why Sally was under so much pain made it all the more sense why it caused so many female cars to experience so much pain, because some models simply aren't built for it, but luckily for Sally, she had the right amount of space for it. Now, it was becoming too crammed for the little car that it was making Sally's frame look deformed.

"How can this be fixed? How long will it take?" Lightning asked in a panic, wanting to know so much about what was going on.

He felt so helpless in that moment, the only thing he wanted in that very moment was to feel the same pain at the same level of intensity that Sally was feeling, but he could only feel that way emotionally. Flo could see the struggle and frustration build up inside him, she knew that it was only because he cared deeply for Sally, Flo did too, and she wished she could endure some of the pain too, just to take some of the stress off Sally. She sighed in remorse as she remembered the day she found out she and Ramone weren't capable of making new cars on their own.

It was a painful memory; it took her and Ramone awhile to get over the sad news but in time they pulled through. Now she was seeing what she could never do right in front of her, and all she wanted in that moment was to share the pain, she felt so terrible knowing how much pain Sally was under, with every tear that rolled down her hood and every grunt in pain she cried, it made Lightning and Flo look at each other in deep worry, wishing they could feel the same pain.

"We need to simply remove the door of her trunk and then there will be some tests run to make sure everything's alright for the new car, then it shouldn't be too long before they can be with you." The doctor assured, smiling at the three before exiting the room quickly.

"It'll be all over soon, don't worry Sally." Flo assured, rubbing her tire against Sally's side.

"You can hold on just a little longer, I know you can." Lightning reminded, reflecting how strong Sally was.

All this encouragement lessened the pain slightly, but physically all that Sally could feel was the feeling that she was going to burst, but because of her solid and tight frame it made it all the more painful for her. She heard the doctor's every word and sincerely hoped that it wouldn't be too long that the new car would be in front of the two.

Lightning and Sally weren't too far away from becoming official parents, Lightning was beginning to realise what would happen once word got out about this, he hoped that he and Sally could cover up the fact that they had been expecting long before they were married, marriage is what helped seal it, and this one mistake sped up their relationship, they couldn't see the worth in front of them yet, but knew with all this suffering in between that it was definitely going to be worth it.

Not long later, the doctor returned with some nurses by his side, he explained to everyone the procedures he was about to implement and then Sally was moved to another room for the operation. Unfortunately no one else could go in with Sally, so Lightning and Flo joined the others just outside the room and waited anxiously for the news.

Meanwhile inside the operating room, Sally was still grunting in pain, she was glad that the hospital had expanded and had more staff since Radiator Springs was put back on the map otherwise the news that she was delivering tonight would have been spread across the news already.

It wasn't long later that the pain melted away, she lowered her hood in relief as she could still feel the overwhelming bulge in the back of her but the pain was absent, it did confuse her mind for a moment, but she gave in, relaxing a little before she felt the door of her trunk being removed.

The operators were extremely careful. They could see that the little car had already damaged much of Sally both interior and exterior. The easy part about this process was ensuring that the little car had been delivered safely, now a more difficult process was giving Sally her old frame. All around her back and her sides near the back were dented inwards and outwards from the little car's constant pushing about.

Sally closed her eyes as she felt the pain returning for a moment before she heard a young crying sound emitting from behind, immediately her motherly instincts kicked in and soon she realised what that cry was. Her eyes widened and she fell silent as her lips parted in a gasp. She was finally a mother.

She wanted more than anything to see what the little car looked like, but she could only see the little car for a split second before it vanished as she kept her eyes focused on her rear view mirrors. Sally knew she had to remain calm as the little car was taken away to have some tests while she would be repaired back to the way she looked before the growing car inside of her dented her frame inwards and outwards.

"Are they okay?" She asked, desperately wanting to see, trying to fight her motherly instincts from taking over.

The doctor who was explaining everything earlier drove to Sally's front to see that new motherly look in her eyes, it made him look at her adoringly before explaining what they were doing with her newborn car.

"Don't worry, we're just going to run some tests first to make sure it's okay and then you and Lightning can have her." He assured, smiling at Sally before driving away.

The words took a moment to click in, but then Sally realised that she knew the gender of the little car that had been growing inside of her for the past four months. It was a girl. After all that thought and assumptions that it was going to be a boy, she was wrong, but Sally was still happy nonetheless.

Her motherly instincts took over, she wanted to see her little girl more than ever, she began to squirm uncontrollably, she moaned a few times while the operators behind her were trying to fix up her dented frame.

"Please remain still Mrs McQueen, we're almost done." One of the operators kindly requested, using a machine to get rid of the dents in her.

All the dents in Sally made her think back to when Holley said she was keeping her dent, it made her feel selfish at first for having her frame look all lovely and shiny after having a little car dent her inside out, but at the same time she knew that her dents were much worse and more consistent than Holley's single back dent. It was then that her thoughts went to Holley, she was forever grateful that Holley could help them in a time of panic and crisis. When she saw Holley next she would thank her dearly for helping her and Lightning out so much.

Meanwhile outside, it was silent. Lightning was with Mater, looking up at his best friend in deep worry of what was going on. Everyone sincerely hoped that Sally and the little car would be alright. And then, a little while later, the doctor opened the door and turned to the cars waiting patiently in worry.

He smiled at how many cars truly cared about this couple, and he felt truly honoured to be delivering Lightning and Sally's little car, he didn't care if he got no publicity out of this, he was just glad he had the honour of doing something for someone famous like Lightning McQueen, and his wife.

"It's a girl." He proudly announced.

Smiles spread across the room in joy, Lightning's smile widened the most as his eyes filled with tears of joy. All he wanted now was to see the little car and Sally, right then and there those were the two cars he cared deeply for, even if he hadn't seen one of them yet, Lightning could already feel the overwhelming attachment to his new daughter.

Everyone huddled around Lightning and congratulated him, he felt so modest in that moment he didn't know what to say other than thanks to everyone.

"Thank you, thanks." He repeated over and over, feeling overwhelmed with joy of the most wonderful news.

It was only ten minutes later that the same door opened again but this time it was Sally who drove out, many who were waiting for her to come back out applauded, Lightning rushed to her side and nuzzled her lovingly, proud that Sally was able to sit through all that. But then there was a decline in noise as everyone looked around Sally in confusion.

"Where is she?" Flo asked, confused and slightly worried.

"Oh, she's just getting some tests done, shouldn't be too much longer." Sally explained with an assuring expression.

"Congratulations you two, I know Doc would be so proud." Sheriff said with a smile, knowing how much of a father figure Doc was to Lightning.

Lightning and Sally looked at each other, feeling the strong and deep connection with each other somehow grow stronger after realising that they were both now officially parents. Lightning looked up at the ceiling, thinking of Doc and how happy he would be if he were there with them; he closed his eyes with content as he smiled. The new parents nuzzled each other before Mater friendly kicked Lightning's side with his tire.

"Congrats buddy! I can't believe my best buddy's a daddy now." Mater stated softly, tears developing in his eyes as he smiled proudly at his best friend.

The race car looked up at his tow truck pal, he was thankful for everyone being there for him and Sally, but he was especially thankful for Mater. He knew that if he had never been mistaken for a spy, he and Sally wouldn't have had a safe delivery back home. Lightning bumped his tire against Mater's with a thankful smile, he was glad to have a friend like this.

"Thanks for being there Mater." Lightning thanked, grinning at his friend.

Later on, everyone had left the hallway and were now near the main entrance to the hospital, Lightning and Sally were told that it would take at least another five to ten minutes before they could see their baby car, but then, within a matter of a few minutes, they saw an assistant forklift drive out of a room with something small in its arms. Lightning and Sally gasped with excitement, they were both over the moon with joy that this day had finally arrived, but at the same time they were surprised that it was all going to happen so soon, but all in all, they still enjoyed the moments.

"Here is your new daughter Mr and Mrs McQueen." The doctor announced as he and the forklift next to him approached the couple.

A blanket was neatly hiding the little car away from her parent's eyes, but then the forklift shook the blanket off, and then there she was. A beautiful little McQueen sleeping soundly right in front of her parents, everyone awed at the sight, already seeing how strongly connected the car was to both of them, through genetics and emotion.

Many comments adoring the newborn were heard in the background as Lightning and Sally approached their new daughter and their first experience as official parents. She was a lovely shade of blue with a hint of purple, and although her eyes couldn't be seen, Lightning and Sally were both more than sure that she had blue eyes just like they did, what they were most excited to find out is what traits did she share from each parent.

"She's adorable, what's her name?" Holley asked, approaching the family.

Lightning and Sally were both caught off guard with what name to give their daughter. They looked at each other in a slight panic, trying to remember what names they came up with, but felt blank in that moment from all the new things that were gushing through their minds. But they both took a deep look at their daughter, who was now on a small trailer carriage and the forklift had left.

All they could see was joy and excitement, they couldn't think of a name. The couple could feel their parental instincts kick in, and they knew from here on out that's what they'd feel whenever they were around their daughter.

Lightning glanced at Sally and then looked back down at his daughter, the resemblance in the model type was uncanny, and she definitely looked like a mother's daughter in his eyes. And that's when he thought of the perfect name that would always remind him of the love of his life.

"I think we should call her Sara." Lightning stated, as he looked down and admired his daughter.

Sally looked up with parted lips; she could feel that name stick for some reason, and the similarity to her name she could tell a few moments after repeating that name in her mind. Sally smiled lovingly at Lightning as she knew exactly why he wanted to call their daughter by that name. She awed and nuzzled her husband's side before looking back down at their daughter.

"Sara." Sally said, admiring her daughter. "It's perfect."

Just then, Sara's eyelids parted and beautiful blue eyes shone in the light as they opened and looked straight up at the loving parents. At first she looked confused, but then smiled as she recognised her parents within an instant.

Everyone gathered in close to the scene, it wasn't long later that Sally deeply thanked Holley for being there for them, and Lightning thanked Mater more for finding someone like Holley to be in their lives. It was a long and tiring week, but the couple were extremely grateful that they were able to have things moving along smooth and quick with the assistance of Holley and Siddley, they didn't know where they would be without them.

Later that night, as the moon rose high into the sky, showing how late it was in the night. The new loving family exited the hospital with their friends by their side. They all looked around in slight worry that they may have been seen earlier by news reporters, but there was no one in sight. The town was quiet and peaceful as the new family and their friends drove out of the hospital, congratulating the couple one last time before they all parted ways for the night.

Sara was neatly tucked onto her own little sleeping mat beside Lightning and Sally's, the new parents took one last adoring look at their daughter, extremely happy and proud that they had made it this far so soon in their relationship. It was only a year ago that neither of them were engaged or expecting a little car, and now here they were, Mr and Mrs McQueen with their new daughter Sara McQueen.

 _~A Year Later~_

Little Sara was speeding down the little track that had been built especially for her as a birthday gift; she stopped and jumped with excitement as she turned to see her father looking at her proudly.

"Great job Sara, one day you'll be just as fast as me!" He exclaimed, racing up to her and nuzzling her little side.

"Thank cu daddy!" Sara said, still very new to learning how to talk.

Sally approached the pair and giggled in amusement as she saw the burnt rubber on Sara's little track, she could tell that by looking at those marks that Sara definitely had both her parents speed, but she could may as well have more of her father's speed since Lightning was a race car.

Lightning had won the next Piston Cup in the series, he was on his way to becoming a racing legend just like Doc and Strip Weathers. He had won 5 Piston Cups and the World Grand Prix, he was truly proud of his accomplishments and he knew that Doc would be truly proud of him.

Sally was back into the swing of things with work, taking more time off to spend time bonding with her little girl while her staff covered for her during that time. She felt more relaxed and happy with how she managed things with work and family, although she was working less than she was before, she was happy with it now. She laughed at the thought of her a year and a half ago, freaking out and worrying that all of this was not going to work, but in the end it did.

To the public, they kept Sara hidden from public eyes for half a month before revealing her to the public, claiming that she was adopted but Lightning and Sally chose really well how similar the car would look to them. Luckily, the public believed them and awed at the sight of the loving family. There were some questions raised as to how Lightning was going to balance being a father along with being a racer, but he assured everyone that he loves his racing almost as much as he loves his family.

And during his first racing season as a father, he had much more confidence that he would win it, and in the end he did. With Sally and Sara down in California to watch his final race for the season cheering him on before rejoining with him after the race was over.

Their daughter was a little racer in training; she loved to speed from one end of the track to the other. Both Lightning and Sally could already tell that in a way she was going to be more of a father's daughter, but at the same time by appearance she looked like a mother's daughter. It was the perfect balance.

Although Sara was still quite young, she definitely was developing the spirit of her father, wanting to race against others for fun and sometimes just relax and spend time with her parents. She loved her parents more than anything, and she loved it when her parent's friends would come and babysit her, sometimes even her mother would let her stay in a cone while she worked, playing hide and seek with her mother.

It was going to be a little while before Lightning and Sally could enjoy that amazing feeling of driving up to Wheel Well with little Sara by their side, but they knew in time it would happen. Lightning and Sally were so proud with how far they had come so far in their relationship, and they knew that it was only going to get stronger from here on out.

They were a loving family that was never going to break apart, it didn't matter what happened next, just as long as they had each other.

 **THE END.**

 **Aww...you can all hug me now for wrapping the story up this way. I was actually hoping to finish this the day before but then I caught a bug and couldn't do anything, I'm still under the weather but I'll be better in time. ^^ I would like to thank you all for being very supportive throughout this story, and although this story may not be as popular as the other story I'm currently writing, I am glad to have you guys give me feedback and just love the story in general.**

 **I would like to thank in particular for giving me so much support throughout the process of the story, that's why I took her name suggestion. I thank you the most for giving me so much support and always making me feel better about not rushing these chapters, you're amazing. :)**

 **It's been a long journey but I am really proud with how it ended, I didn't think I would make this story so long, in the beginning I had no idea how long it was going to be but now I see how amazing of a story I wrote, and I am glad to have completed another fantastic story. Now, I'll be focusing on my other story for now but I will be making more stories in the future, more Cars themed ones? Who knows? :D**

 **So see you all next time I write a new Cars story (or whatever story of mine you follow), bye! ^^**


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